


My Kingdom for Your Love

by sherlockian0



Category: Almost Human
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Blood and Torture, Canon-Typical Violence, Graphic Description, Kidnapping, Living Together, M/M, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Panic Attacks, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2014-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:28:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherlockian0/pseuds/sherlockian0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arranged marriage. Arranged marriage to an android. Arranged marriage to a male android with sparkling eyes that took in every shade of blue around them and made those colors pale in comparison to the breathtaking orbs staring... FUCK.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To Begin...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Liyah_Ayerst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liyah_Ayerst/gifts), [scienceblues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scienceblues/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I do not own Almost Human.

_This is absolute bullshit_ was the first thing that came to mind as John listened to his father prattle on. The second was, _fuck, no, I'm out._

The fact that he tried to leave the throne room through the main doors and not by sneaking through the escape hatch had a lot to do with the fear crawling up his back and had nothing to do with his cognitive abilities, thank you very much. Besides, when was the last time anyone got told that they were required to get married to some android creature type thing? Never. The answer was never. And John had every intention of keeping it that way.

"JOHN REGINALD KENNEX, YOU STOP RIGHT THERE, YOUNG MAN!"

For a split second John considered bolting for sweet freedom, but he could see his mother out of the corner of his eye, silently reprimanding him for trying to make a scene.

Slowly turning back around to face his father, John straightened to his full height and leveled the man with a stare. "Yes, Father?"

"Do not "yes, Father" me, John. Come back here so that I may explain the reasoning for my decision." John could see the weariness in his father's eyes, but this decision that his old man was talking about was full of shit. John understood his duties as Crown Prince and he had even accepted the fact that he needed to marry again; but to an android? A fucking synthetic? There was no way in living hell.

"Son," his father began as he stepped back onto the dais, "you know that I have not pushed you to marry since Anna's death, but this is something that we need. The android people are demanding a connection _between_ us before they agree to fight _with_ us, and your marriage to one of their women was their only term. We cannot afford to deny them this."

John could feel his face heating up as his anger almost got the better of him, but he forced himself to calm down and think about their situation rationally. His kingdom had been at war against Reinhardt's people for years now and they were quickly losing ground. The bastard's technology vastly dwarfed theirs and he had no qualms about crushing the Kennex people into dust. Sometimes Reinhardt even took that idea to heart and used his synthesizers to suck the water out of people's bodies and vaporize their bones. Those little flecks of ash always made John want to cry each time he had to breathe them in.

But, if the androids were finally going to lend a hand... it was John's duty to represent his people, not only as Crown Prince but also as Military Commander. Fuck.

Raising his eyes towards his King, John repressed a sigh and forced his back into the upright position. "Father, I see the wisdom in your decision and I will honor it." The words hurt as they scraped through his throat, but he knew that his people needed him to step forward and do his duty. He also knew that the self-hatred and shame in his father's eyes could eventually be erased if he worked at his marriage with the android.

Besides, they were supposed to be as human-like as possible anyway.


	2. Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some times passes.

_**One week later…** _

"Angel, do you read? Angel? Come in Angel."

John waited for a response as he held his gun to his chest and tried to peer through the smoke. They had been in the field for three days now and the damn enemy wouldn't back off. He knew that there was only one person that they hadn't managed to kill yet, but the bastard was good. Too good, if he was honest with himself. It was this type of crackshot precision that spoke of years of training and an indoctrination into the sniper lifestyle that Reinhardt's army was known for. In essence, there was a possibility that they were screwed.

"Kiwi, this is Angel calling in." John could hear the man's harsh breathing through his earpiece and frantically looked towards where his partner had disappeared. "It's gettin' tight in here, Kiwi, the bastard won't let me move through."

John didn't take the time to think though his decision, "radio your position, officer, I'm coming to you."

As Martin muttered out the coordinates John began to sprint across the pavement, feet pounding the ground in his rush to get to his friend.

Coming to a stop as he reached the opposite side of the courtyard, he peered around the wall's edge and spotted Martin hunched behind a car but seemingly without a scratch.

"Angel," he muttered into his microphone, "I'm at your location. Where is the target?"

John saw as Martin looked towards him and took in his position. Doing the math quickly, he responded, "30 degrees left of you, Kiwi."

Raising his gun and focusing on the black shadow about 10 stories above him John aimed and fired. And just as he was sure that it was going to hit, said shadow jumped back and disappeared from view.

"Fuck," he snarled as he lowered his gun and began jogging towards Martin, careful to stay aware of his surroundings. Reaching the other man, John did a quick diagnostic while Martin grumbled about being fine and wanting to get moving instead of sittin' on their asses being perfect targets.

"Yeah, yeah," John muttered as he finished his look over and grabbed Martin's hand, tugging him to his feet. "Don't come whining to me the next time you get hurt then, huh? Obviously you're juuuuust fine."

Martin smirked and moved to smack him on the back of the head, but suddenly there was a high pitched whine surrounding them and a bright blue light headed right for their heads. John screamed and body slammed Martin into the car, covering his body with his own and listening for a second attack.

"I can't see or hear very much, Angel, can you?" No response. John looked down, confused by the silence. "Angel?" Seeing his friend's face close up John saw how his eyes stared past their situation, piercing the sky with their beauty and lifelessness. "Angel?" John asked again, voice breaking. _No_ , he thought, _there's no way, there's no..._ "Angel!" Breathless seconds passed by but Martin's eyes never refocused, never moved, and John was left staring down at the blank stare of his closest friend while he struggled to breathe.

Momentarily resting his head onto Martin's, John wrapped his arms around his partner's waist and scrambled back onto his heels. He then slowly swung Martin's weight over his shoulder before rising to his feet and sprinting back the way he had just come, desperate to leave. But just as he stepped back into the tiny hallway that lead to the opposite courtyard John heard the whine again and turned to get out of the way of the laser. The blue light crashed into the wall right where his head had been, but John kept moving.

Crashing through the debris and almost halfway back to their car, John felt a surge of hope that he would be able to get Martin's body home to his wife instead of laid out for the buzzards to peck on. But, just as he yanked the back door open and thrust Martin's body into the car John felt a searing pain directly on his side.

Crying out and falling back to land heavy on the ground, the last thought that ran through his head was, _well, at least the Mrs. will be able to marry someone else._

\----------------------------------------

Waking up felt weird. Really weird. Like, he hadn't done this in a while type weird.

He also couldn't move, and that's what scared him the most.

Focusing on his pinkie finger on his right hand, John tried to force it to twitch. Nothing. His eyelids. Nothing. His toes. Again, nothing. He even tried to flex his abs, but the muscles weren't listening, and he wasn't even sure if they were still there.

Freaking out seemed like a really good idea, but his heart wouldn't even beat faster, dammit!

That realization stopped him.

 _What the fuck,_ he thought, _that's an internal organ, that thing doesn't stop pumping just because my body refuses to listen... it doesn't make sense._

But, just as he was about to try and move again and maybe get some god damn help, he felt himself slip back under. All without his control.

\---------------------------------------------

"Sire," he heard from above, "sire, can you hear me?"

John tried to focus on the voice, that familiar voice, but his brain just couldn't keep still.

"Sire, it may be difficult for you to understand, but you have suffered from many different injuries. We are treating you as best we can and have been placing you into an induced coma every few hours so that you heal correctly. So, if you ever wake up and cannot move, please do not worry."

The voice stopped, but John was still trying to parse through the information that he had managed to catch on to. An induced coma explained a lot, but what was that about injuries? The last he remembered, he had been hit in the side and that was about it. And that really didn't explain the pounding in his head.

But before he could speculate further the voice spoke again. "Sire, we are going to put you back under, but only for a few more hours. After that we will try to wake you fully and see how you respond." There was a pause as the voice took a fortifying breath before whispering, "Please rest well, sir."

With that, the world went silent.

\-------------------------------------------

The official wake up had John coughing and struggling to raise his strapped down arms.

"Nurse," he croaked out, throat parched and burning, "Nurse!" he tried again.

Three bodies seemingly rushed into the room at once, all desperate to reach him while simultaneously trying to be as quiet as possible.  
John stared at them, confused by their actions but unable to do much about them. "Well," he began, annoyed with the looks of awe that they were bestowing upon him, "are any of you going to help me sit up? I seem to be strapped down for some stupid reason." He couldn't help but grumble the last part, still confused as to why he was stuck.

"Sire," one said hesitantly, "before we release you could you tell us what day you might think it is?"

Staring at the idiotic man John rolled his eyes and took a quick guess. "Judging by your question I guess I was out for a long time?" The three doctors all nodded together, eyes wide. John didn't like the confirmation, but forced himself to take in his surroundings. The room looked normal to him, not that he had been in many hospital rooms before, the television wasn't on but it did look a bit more advanced than he remembered, and the doctor's nametags had a new design to them. The names Dutta, Cline, and Rodriguez glittering from the badges, but aside from that the logo had changed and the information had a new font. "If I had to guess," he snarked, "I'd say I've been out for at least a good two months. Right?"

One of the women, Cline, shifted her eyes to the side while the other, Rodriguez, slowly shook her head and whispered the correct time.

John froze, unable to believe the number that he had heard. Looking towards the other two doctors he read the sadness and pity on their faces, along with a deep look of shame that didn't make any sense.

"Two years," he whispered, eyes darting around the room, frantic for evidence, "two..."

The room was silent until the man, Dutta, spoke up again. "Sire, I will call your mother immediately so that you may speak." With that the man rushed from the room, yanking out his phone as he did so.

Looking after him John was almost afraid to ask. "Why did he mention only calling my mother?"

Rodriquez grimaced before drawing a resolved breath and looking John straight in the eye, sorry permeating her words before they were even spoken. "He died a year ago, Sire. There was a harsh battle between our troops and Reinhardt's and your father went to encourage the soldiers to keep fighting and not to lose hope." Here she paused, almost afraid to say the next words. "But, when he reached the last settlement there was an explosion and... and he did not make it."

Her whispered words rocked John to his core as he stared at the two women, mouth agape and eyes heavy with repressed tears. He didn't know what to think, how to respond to such information, but all he knew was that he wanted his mother.

Only moments after his silent, frantic wish, the woman in question swept into the room and wrapped him in her arms. John was still unable to move, strapped as he was, but that didn't stop him from nuzzling into the soft warmth of his mother's embrace and breathing in her familiar scent. Not being able to hold her hurt more than he could explain, and if there were a few escaped tears, that was between him and his mother. But, despite the secret tears, the reality of his situation came crashing down like the wave that it was.

His father. His best friend. Dead, both dead. And who was to know what had become of his kingdom... what was to become of his kingdom now that he was King.


	3. Android

Two months had passed since John had woken from his coma. The doctors had given him the medical enhancer that advanced his healing and gave him control over his body again in under a month. Nothing was perfect, but they had tried their best and he only had a few aches and pains, and didn’t have to walk with a cane. But, other than the medical advancements over the past few years, the state of his kingdom was not spiraling downwards.

His mother had tried her best, but the Androids had refused to help without the guarantee of a marriage, so she and her people had basically been left alone with limited resources. The crime rates had risen over the past two years as the military lost some of its finest officers to strategic attacks from Reinhardt, thus encouraging police officers to join the army rather than stay in their positions. The poverty level had also risen, resulting in an unprecedented amount of unplanned births and starvation; and John didn't even want to think about the homelessness problem that held about 20% of the veterans and forgotten children.

Overall, the state of his home kept him from sleep most nights and resulted in nightmares the rest, which did nothing to help his body. The laser had apparently ripped through his left side and had resulted in the need for a mechanical heart, half of a new lung since it had almost been burned to a crisp, and a few broken ribs that were still tender for some reason. John also preferred not to think about the chest plate that itched at the worst times.

And all of that that didn't even take into account the android dilemma.

"Mother," John muttered as he talked into their private sitting room, glaring down at his PADD. "Have you read the missive from DRN? He wants to meet in person to make sure that I'm mentally capable!"  
Looking up, John saw his mother smiling softly at him, her face almost de-aged with her happiness at seeing him fret.

"Darling," she began, "it is simply a pomp and circumstance event, DRN would never turn you down, regardless of your mental capabilities." His mother smirked, eyes twinkling as she watched her son flush and try to scowl at the same time. He was so much like his father.

"It’s still unfair that they're trying to push me into this." John began to pace within the small room, frame seeming larger by the moment as his tension grew. "I mean... what if something goes wrong and they say that I..." he trailed off, lost in his thoughts of failure and disappointment.

His mother clucked and rose to her feet, fingers brushing over her own PADD and minimizing the message she had been scrutinizing. "Do not worry about this meeting, John, DRN will approve, you will marry his daughter, and we can begin the next attack preparations." Running her thin fingers through her son's hair, she sighed and pulled him close to her, tucking her head beneath his chin and taking a bit of his weight as he sagged against her, overwhelmed.

Resting his head against the soft, dark curls on her head, John groaned and chuckled to himself at his childishness. "I know that I’m overreacting, Mother. Please forgive my outburst."

Smiling herself, Clarisse pulled back and clasped his cheek. "I know that you will do well, my dear. And never apologize for your emotions. They are yours to feel and express and are not things to be ashamed of." Ducking his head to hide the small flush to his skin, John looked up and murmured, "of course, Mother, I almost forgot."

"It's quite alright, dear. Now go and get ready for dinner, we are entertaining our Minister of Finance as well as the head of the Public Affairs Association, and you know how those two get when they are around each other.

Groaning again, John nodded and made his way towards the door, but he couldn't help thinking that the dinner would go so much better if the two morons just fucked out their problems.

\-----------------------------------

Days later found John pacing the throne room, throat closing every few moments in worry and the sharp edges of his collar only making the situation worse.

"Calm down," his mother murmured as she stared at the doors before them, trying not to show her annoyance with her son's actions. When John only huffed and continued his repetitious walk the Queen Regent wanted nothing more than to slap him on the back of his head, regardless of his position in life.

"If you do not sit," she hissed, her eyes glinting, "I will treat you like the child that you are emulating."

At that John froze, gaping, and tried not to slink back to his chair under his mother's baleful gaze.

"I'm sorry, Mother," he grumbled as he plopped himself down while shifting away from her slight frame, humbled with the thought that the fierce woman at his side would have continued to run the kingdom in his stead and would have most likely ended the war far sooner than he or his father could have managed.

Suddenly the doors to the throne room flew open as a myriad of people strode through. John quickly sat up, looking sheepishly over at his mother, before pinning his eyes on the man leading the procession. He didn't really stick out. He was of average height, short hair, brown skin, and he had rather small hands for some reason. But, there was one aspect of him that was strikingly beautiful. The man had the most gorgeous blue eyes, orbs that seemed to sparkle and glimmer as he strode through the cuts of light streaming in from the walls. John couldn't look away.

"Your Highness," the man said as he bowed low and closed his eyes, "I am King DRN of the Android people. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

Mimicking the man's actions John bowed low and closed his eyes, taking that short moment to reign himself in and achieve some type of calm.

"Your Majesty, I am King John of the Kennex people and I welcome you to our land. This is my mother, Queen Regent Clarissa whom you have spoken with previously." Turning towards his mother John saw a small smile sweep onto her face as she took in the procession.

"Your Majesty," she said as she rose to her feet, "I welcome you to our kingdom and hope that you and your people have a pleasant time while you are with us. We have prepared rooms for all of your company and understand if you would like to take some time to rest before we begin with the official proceedings."

DRN nodded his head slightly and eagerly thanked them before motioning his people out of the room.  
But, just as the last of DRN's dignitaries were about to turn around John's eye caught onto another android who stood off to the side.

This man was far more striking than DRN could have ever hoped to be. The stranger had thick, black eyebrows, a chiseled jaw-line, delectable lips, a lean body that was trying hide the corded muscles laced along the man's form, and there were those eyes again. Those electric blue eyes that danced as they took in the layout of the room, practically sparking with interest; but even from his distance John could see how the intrigue within the man's eyes only concealed his true desire... adventure.

And adventure was something that John could work with.

\---------------------------------

After the entire procession of androids had settled in, DRN found his way to the small sitting area opposite the throne room. John and Clarissa were already there reviewing the contracts from two years ago and making one last check to make sure that they hadn't missed any small note that the late King may have included.

DRN politely cleared his throat and smiled as his hosts whipped around, startled from their work.

"Your Majesties," DRN said, "I would simply like to reiterate that your hospitality is most welcome. My people are extremely pleased with their temporary living spaces and they implored me to express their approval." Here he chuckled, broad shoulders shaking in place. "A few of the gentlemen even offered to acquire any gift that you may desire, but I am not too positive on that particular topic." Seeing small, sincere smiles appear on their faces allowed DRN to relax and simultaneously steel himself for the upcoming discussion.

"But, Majesties, I must ask to begin our conversation straight away. There is an important matter that we must discuss."

Glancing towards his mother John quirked an eyebrow but only got a small frown in return.

"If you would like to begin now," John said slowly, "we are ready to start."

DRN nodded before taking the seat set aside for him and waited for the two to do the same.

"Sire," Clarissa began, but was quickly cut off by DRN.

"Please, my lady, this discussion may lead to a joining of our families, call me DRN."

Smiling at the man Clarissa nodded once and extended an invitation of her own, quickly followed by a similar one from John. After having cleared the air the three began combing through the document that had been drawn up two years prior.

"The most important point of interest that we must discuss is the android who will marry John."

"Yes," DRN quickly agreed, "and that is the exact thing that I wanted to discuss with you two." He paused and looked between the two but trudged on. "The woman whom you were to marry, John, is my daughter, Valerie. But, she has since fallen in love and as we were not sure if you were ever going to wake up I have approved her marriage to Richard."

John clenched his teeth as he listened to DRN's explanation and began to fume. _What the hell is the point of coming all this way then, huh? Wanted to check if I was brain damaged or if some imposter had taken my place? Wanted to mock my family and this war?! How dare you, you vile, inconsiderate-_

His rant was cut off as DRN began again, "but, I still intend to honor this agreement. I have another offspring, a son, by the name of Dorian. He is to become King once I am decommissioned since Valerie has taken the title of Queen and Protector in her husband's court. But, with the marriage between John and Dorian, our borders would merge and our people could become one; thus making your war our war." Pausing again DRN stared for a moment at John's nonplussed expression before asking, "is this something that you could possibly consider, John?"

It was as if a knife could cut the silence in the room.

Clarissa was staring at John, face closed off as she waited for her son's decision and DRN tried not to fidget since that was technically against his programming.

Even the bird that had been chirping for the past 15 minutes shut up.

For John, being married to a man wasn't a hard one to make. He knew that this marriage would help his people survive and that was all that mattered.

He figured that DRN was worried about the same-sex bit, but John had always known that he was bisexual and had never tried to hide it before he was married; and then Anna had surprised him by telling him that he could bring people to their bed if she could as well and that had led to a fun sex life.

What did worry him was the sex. Being married to an android who technically had no sexuality to speak of and who instead responded only to his partner's needs... it kept tripping him up. But, he finally reasoned that his personal worries about consent really had no part in this marriage since being married to an android didn't mean that he had to have sex with the guy.

"DRN," he said, with a small smile, "being married to your son is something that I would have no problem with."

The muscles in DRN's shoulders relaxed as he spoke and it seemed as if sound rushed back into the room and even lit the shadowed corners. "Is he here now?" John asked.

"Yes," DRN assured him. "I'm not sure if you will remember him, but he was standing off to the side of my entourage. He said that he did not wish to attract attention or be introduced early on in case this discussion did not go well, but I see now that his worries were for naught."


	4. Family

Meeting Dorian was apparently more difficult than one would have thought. The sentries reported seeing him leave the castle on horse (and who even leaves on horse anyway) but that they didn't stop him since he pulled the whole "Prince of the Androids" thing. John was worried that this would be consistent behavior with his soon-to-be-husband.

But, while they waited for Dorian to return John did have the pleasure of meeting Valerie.

The woman was one of the most beautiful people that he had ever laid eyes on, and listening to her talk only made her shine even more.

"I do hope that you are not too disappointed, John. I'm still not sure if you were interested in marrying me for any reason other than my father's help, but I cannot say that I am sorry with how things have turned out. I am wonderfully in love with Richard and would not give him up for the world." Her expression became wistful and a small smile lit up her eyes. John couldn't look away. "You seem like a wonderful person, John, and hopefully you and my brother will get along famously."

A small grin slipped onto her face as she continued to tell him about her new husband and new life and their conversation eventually turned to stories of the past few years. Overall, John was a lot jealous and a bit bitter by the time DRN came to tell him that Dorian had turned back up.

"Oh, you are going to adore Dorian, John. He has such an interesting world-view and is always looking for new things to try." She smirked up at him and laced her arm through his as they walked out of the room. "And something tells me that you might have a taste for adventure yourself, hm?"

He chuckled and ducked his head, hiding a smile. "Yeah, pretty much, but I'll be out of commission for a bit longer. I'm still not used to this mechanical heart and my body isn't ready yet since I was under for so long."

Valerie nodded and patted his hand, managing to send her support through the small gestures. John felt so at ease with her that he quickly forgot what he was actually supposed to be doing and was only brought out of his quiet contemplation by a light cough. When he looked up, DRN was standing next to a figure that didn't surprise John in the least. There stood the man whom he had seen in the throne room earlier that morning with the adventurous intent and gorgeous eyes.

"John," DRN said as he nudged his son further into the room, "this is Dorian."

"And Dorian," Valerie said through her smile as she moved to stand at her father's side, "this is John. I'm sure you two will enjoy spending time with one another." With that, Valerie and DRN swept through the door and back into the hallway, softly locking the two men inside.

Neither of them said a word until Dorian stepped forward with a small smile and re-introduced himself.

"Hey, man, I'm Dorian, it's nice to meet you." He extended a hand in greeting but John wasn't really up for that.

"Yeah," he muttered, scratching at the stubble left on his face, "nice to meet you too."

A small frown appeared between Dorian's eyes as he slowly lowered his arm back to his side and quickly clenched his fist.

"So," Dorian tried again, "this marriage thing, huh? That should be interesting." Another smile appeared and he chuckled, apparently trying to make light of the situation.

"Mhmmm," replied John as he shifted his weight onto his right leg. The chest plate was starting to itch again. "Do you know why we're getting married?"

Dorian's fist clenched. "Of course I do."

"Right," John drawled. He couldn't believe that this was the guy that he was going to be hitched to. For the rest of his life. No way out. Ever. Androids. Fuck.

"Anyway, let's get this over with, yeah? I have an attack to plan."

Dorian only nodded and moved out of his way, ducking his head down to his chest. _Great_ , John thought, _he's not gonna be any help_. Thus completely missing as Dorian remotely unlocked the door.

Arriving at the throne room found them in the middle of a slightly somber discussion.

"Oh, John, Dorian, how are you both?" Clarissa asked.

"As well as can be expected, Mother, thank you. Are we ready to begin the planning?"

Clarissa winced slightly before standing. "John, we will actually be putting off the planning until one week from tomorrow."

Frowning, John shook his head and moved towards the drawing table. "No, Mother, that is not possible. We must begin the attack since the Android people are already here and are ready to fight with us."

"Yes, darling, I understand that," she grit out, "but there is something that must be done before you marry. You must spend a week with your fiancé away from the hustle of the kingdom and see if you two are truly compatible. If not, then there is no point in the marriage since our kingdoms would not be in capable hands."

"Mother!-"

"No, John. This is something that you must do as King." The room was silent as the two glared at one another. "Do not shirk on your duties because you believe that they inconvenience you." She began to gather up the papers and PADDs scattered over the table, "we will be fine while you and Dorian are away. DRN and Valerie have agreed to help with the preliminary planning and besides, my son, I have had control over our army for years now and nothing has gone too awry. Do not assume that you can change everything with a flick of your wrist."

John stood, stunned as he listened to his mother give him a dressing down. He hadn't felt so small in ages.

"I know that this is hard, dear," she said with a painful sigh, "but it must be done."

Straightening his back, John grunted his affirmation and turned on his heel. He needed a moment to calm down and making a scene in front of his soon-to-be new family was already embarrassing enough. He had no reason to make it worse.

\-------------------------------

His mother found him in his room, slumped in front of the empty fireplace. He was making a pitiful sight.

"John, may we talk?"

John grunted and shrugged his shoulders. He honestly did want to talk to his mom and ask her what was going on and why he was only hearing about it now. But, he also felt like being a bit childish. He hadn't realized how much childhood would appeal to him once he took on the responsibility of King.

"Darling," she sighed, "I am sorry that I didn't tell you about the tradition before the Android people arrived, but I knew that you would balk before they even walked through the doors." She settled next to him on the couch that he was on and he heard her groan as she settled. The sound scared him.

"I know you were only trying to help. but it was embarrassing and you know that I have to uphold an image, even to the in-laws."

"Yes, I know, dear, but it is also important for you to remember that you are only human and that things will not always go your way. I admit it was a roundabout way of reminding you, but you've taken on so much over the past few months and this was the best option that I could come up with." Her calming voice kept his anger and humiliation at bay, and he couldn't help but listen. "But, as I said, dear, I know that my decision was not the best. And for that I am sorry." She ran her fingers through his hair and John leaned into the touch, taking the strength that he needed. "I also apologize for embarrassing you. But maybe being human in front of your in-laws wouldn't be a bad idea." John could hear the smirk in his mother's voice and smiled along with her, happy to be with the person who loved him the most and whom he loved fiercely back.

\-----------------------------

After a long conversation with his mother, John finally saw that there was no way out of the trip since the tradition was important to his people and because they were all invested in the future of the kingdom.

John still wasn't too sure how he had never heard about the damn thing as a child, but he could image who enforced that rule.

John walked back out to the throne room to see DRN and his offspring gathered around the same table as before but this time they seemed to be arguing.  
  
From his position by the door John heard Dorian hiss, "he's rude and irrational, Father! This may not work and then what? I can't sit by and watch these people get slaughtered just because one marriage didn't work, and I honestly don't expect you to be able to either."

DRN hung his head and drummed his fingers on the table. "I will not abandon the Kennex people, not as I have done over the past few years. But you must travel with John to the cabin for a week and at least try to create a friendship that can help you through your marriage."

"Of course," Dorian responded while smiling, "he and I will try, but I am simply glad for your decision to help." With that, Dorian turned his head to look directly at John and winked. John's face spasmed in response. He had never been good at winking.

 _This may not be so bad,_ he thought, _I like him already._

\----------------------------------

Apparently his mother had been planning the trip quietly behind his back and had everything set and ready to go. It was a bit daunting but John wasn’t surprised in the least.The car that was waiting for them was packed to the brim, with only the two front seats open. The cup holders even had water bottles in them.

They sped off with John in the driver’s seat and Dorian fiddling with the radio station, trying to find a station that wasn’t talking about the war or a song that didn’t allude to the soldiers' deaths. Nothing came up.

“My iPod is in the back seat,” John said, “it’s right in that little black bag next to the basket.”

“Yep, got it,” Dorian murmured as he stretched backwards to grab the device. “This is pretty nice,” he commented as he moved to plug it in, “I have never been on a vacation before.”

“Really? I’d imagine as Crown Prince you would have been able to go anywhere.”

“Nah,” Dorian chuckled, “my father was always very protective of my sister and I and he doesn’t believe in prolonged leisure time. And besides, I only became Crown Prince about a year ago.”

“Oh, that’s right,” John mumbled as he switched lanes, “what is Richard like anyway?”

John saw Dorian shrug out of the corner of his eye. “He’s alright, I guess. Rough around the edges, but when Val is in the room he’s very loving and attentive. She’s seemed to have changed him for the better and his people have become prosperous with her helping him deal with his financiers and the treasury. I think they work well together.”

It was good to hear that Val was happy and that another kingdom was doing well. But it didn’t stop John from wishing that he had someone just as capable with him.

Dorian perked up from his seat and pointed towards the off ramp ahead of them. “That is how you get to Lake Akt. Do you think we could make a quick stop? I’d love to see it in person.”

John felt a little bad as he denied Dorian his request. “I can’t, I’m sorry. Mom programmed the car to stay on this route and only this one except in case of an emergency. She figured I might try heading somewhere else instead of to the lake house.”

Dorian just laughed. It was a pretty sound.

“It’s all good, man, parents, I get it.”

Smiling, John nodded his head towards the turnoff as they passed by. “We can’t stop now but if we leave a few hours early on our last day should be able to see it. The car shouldn’t have a return trip planned, but I didn’t ask before we left.” He frowned, wondering how he would figure that out but then remembered that he had an android with him. The guy could probably hack into the gps and find out.

There was that smile again. “Yeah, I’d love to. Thanks, man.”

Frowning, John turned to Dorian for a moment before focusing on the road again. “This may sound weird, but I was wondering… where did the lingo come from?”

Dorian laughed good naturedly, “I’m running my colloquial routine so I express most data conversationally. I could spit out the accurate numbers and facts, but honestly that takes too long and most people don’t care anyway.”

John couldn’t argue with that logic. Every time he had to read scientific or financial reports he usually had a dictionary on hand and a massive headache by the end. But, the other part… “the “man” though? That seems like a bit much.” Dorian laughed again. He seemed to do that a lot. “I like it, it’s simple. I mean, what else would I say? Dude?” Dorian’s vibrant blue eyes were focused on John, sparkling in their humor and ease. “No, no,” John said, “call me John. Nicknames are horrible.”

John saw Dorian’s smile soften as he nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. But… I may slip up and call you “man” sometimes. I’ve been saying it for years.”

John could live with that.

Their conversation slowly turned to likes and dislikes and they found that they had a lot more in common than they had originally thought. The only main point of discontent was John’s love for videogames and Dorian’s reading preference, and in particular, quiet while reading. John figured they could work around it.

They soon arrived at the Kennex family’s private summer home that overlooked Lake Hesperia. John was shocked to find that nothing had changed. The white paint still gleamed in the sunlight, the deck still extended out over the lake and the diving board was still attached, the front porch still had the old rocking chairs that had been passed down to his mother, even the grounds were still beautifully managed. It felt like paradise. It also felt like a waste of money that could have gone towards the war.

John sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.


	5. Rest

_**Day 1:** _

“Come on, let’s check out the inside,” Dorian exclaimed, body bouncing with his excitement. “This place is absolutely gorgeous, John, I mean the lake alone would be enough, but this house? This house is exquisite!”

John looked back towards the house and took in its beauty again. He couldn’t help but agree with Dorian and despite himself felt a bubble of happiness well up. Maybe some relaxation would benefit him… he knew that he wasn’t going to get any down time until after the war ended. “I’ll show you around,” he suggested as he closed the trunk of the car, unwilling to try and upload everything.

Swinging open the double doors that lead into the house, John took in the soft smell of the lake on the hardwood floors and the faint scent of fabric softener. He was happy that someone had been by to air the place out otherwise he and Dorian would have had a job ahead of them.

Pointing to his right John said, “that’s the library there. It has floor to ceiling bookshelves and they’re all filled. I think my mom categorized everything by genre and then by author, but she also said she ordered some of them by the color of the spines, so finding something in there could be difficult.” He heard Dorian chuckle behind him and smiled, pleased that the man hadn’t made some rude quip. “The kitchen is right through here,” he said, leading them down a small hallway that wove behind the library. “Mom always had this idea that kitchens should be in the back of the house so the person doing the cooking could have privacy but still be connected to the rest of the house. That’s why the hallway is so short and there are big bay windows in there that look out over the backyard.” They stepped into the kitchen to find a platter of food already set out and prepared for them and everything on there was one of John’s favorite dishes. And it was then that he remembered that Dorian didn’t eat. “Um,” he said, scratching his head, “I guess this room isn’t too interesting to you, huh?”

Dorian smiled as he shook his head, “actually, I love cooking. It’s a shame that I don’t have taste buds, but I help with the cooking whenever we have visiting dignitaries. Our kitchen at home is pretty small though, so this is fantastic.” Dorian walked to the opposite side of the admittedly large room to run his fingers over the countertop and opened random drawers to see what was inside.

John hummed and went to open the windows to let in more fresh air, loving the smell of the water and the feeling of the warm sun on his skin. He also took a piece of fresh shrimp and wondered how long ago someone else had been in the house.

“Come on,” he said and snagged a piece of Dorian’s shirt from where he was rummaging through the cabinet full of spices, “there’s a lot more house to see.”

John took him through the rest of the downstairs that included a living room, a den, a dining room, and a sunroom out on the back porch. Dorian looked positively radiant by the time they finished that floor and all of the sun shining on his face only made him more gorgeous. John was not afraid to admit that he had continued to open all the windows for more than one reason.

When they made it upstairs it was to another library, “oh, I was wrong… the downstairs library is organized so a sane person could find something, but _this one_ is all by the color of the spine. Good luck with that.” Two of the bedrooms out of the six had also been opened and aired out, which John was stupidly happy about. Sleeping in the same bed would have been awkward for a couple who was never actually going to sleep together. They had also discovered that the upstairs sitting room had been aired out to which Dorian did a little squeal and plopped down on one of the loveseats. “I’ve always loved these little rooms that are just tucked away for the family. Father has them all over the castle at home.” John opened the windows in that room rather eagerly and watched amazed as Dorian tilted his head back and took in the outside heat. But their greatest find was the door to the balcony that ran along the upstairs of the house. John had always wondered why there weren’t doors in the bedrooms, but his mother had always only smiled and said that the secret door could lead to adventures. He still only saw it as a minor inconvenience.

“Well, that’s everything,” John said as they made their way back down the spiral staircase. “That is if you don’t count the basement, but that’s just where the washer and dryer are, and where the jars of fruit are stored.”

Dorian smiled at him and headed towards the front door. “It’s alright, I’ll see it later. But, I’d love to go for a swim.” He paused and turned back towards John with a hopeful look on his face. “Would you like to join me?”

Shifting, John squared his shoulders before shaking his head. “I can’t… my, um, my chestplate has never really calibrated correctly and I don’t know how well it would do in the water.” He silently dared Dorian to say something about how the calibration malfunction was his fault and that he needed to accept it as a part of himself in order for it to work. He had heard it all from the doctors already.

“Oh,” Dorian said as he continued to lead them out the doors, “I’ve got a fix for that.” John looked over at him, ready for the recycled speech. “Olive oil.” John blinked. “Olive oil?” Dorian laughed and bent down to open the trunk of the car. “Yeah, man, you put it right on the edge.” John quirked an eyebrow in disbelief. “Olive oil?” Grabbing a few bags from the car, Dorian smiled again, “You’ll thank me.”

As they made their way back towards the house, loaded down with bags and enough crap to last them a month rather than a week, John realized that he felt relaxed and content in a way that he hadn’t felt in years.

“Hey,” he said as he nudged Dorian with his arm, “just because I’m not swimming doesn’t mean I can’t go down to the lake.” He met Dorian’s gaze as they turned the corner to their bedrooms, “meet you downstairs in 30?”

Dorian grinned, “absolutely.”

After Dorian entered his room John continued to stand in the hallway. _There’s no way,_ he thought, _no way did Dorian just…_ shaking his head John pushed open the door to his old room and threw his bags near the bed. _The freaking android did not just check you out, John, get ahold of yourself._ He cringed. Maybe that wasn’t the best phrase.

\------------------------------

John made it downstairs 20 minutes later and decided to take the remaining time to gather food to take down to the lakeside. He managed to find a basket and gather a good amount of stuff before remembering that he wasn’t packing for two. _Damn,_ he thought, _this is going to take some getting used to._

He was saved from another internal crisis by the sound of Dorian calling his name. “Coming!” he shouted back as he grabbed the basket and headed back out to the foyer. “I was just getting some stuff together but I was gonna ask, your skin, does it burn because we have-” the sight before him would have stopped anyone. There was Dorian in nothing but board shorts and flip flops with sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose and his hip cocked to the side, allowing just enough room for his forearm to rest there. He smiled as soon as John walked into the room.

“Suntanning lotion?” he asked, “nope, our skin is as human-like as possible but we didn’t add that little tidbit.” Dorian smirked before reaching over to open the basket back up, “this looks pretty good,” he murmured, having seemingly forgotten to explain the skin thing and apparently oblivious to John’s hungry stare.

John coughed into this fist and grunted before moving towards the door, leaving Dorian staring after him with a small frown between his brows. He didn’t mean to react so harshly, but finding an android attractive… this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

Luckily Dorian decided not to push the issue and instead followed John out of the house and onto the grounds. They were quiet as they walked towards the water, but the tension slowly faded as they got closer and closer to the edge.

“I haven’t been here in a long time,” John murmured as he took in the beauty of the lake. “My parents and I came down when I was 15 so it’s been almost two decades.” Sadness and guilt over the sudden trip washed over John again, but he forced it away and tried to remember that this was as much a duty as his work with the war. In fact, this trip was going to determine his entire future while the war could be over in the blink of an eye. It was a pleasing thought.

“What did you do the last time you were here?” Dorian asked, bringing John from his thoughts.

“Um, we swam a lot and my mom loves tennis so she roped Dad and I into that. But, we used to have this great ski boat with a ski thing attached to the back that we would try to take out everyday.” John felt a grin break onto his face at the memory. “Mom would drive and Dad would be at the back watching to make sure I didn’t fall off the ski.” He laughed softly and gazed towards the shed set off to the side of the house. “It broke down during our last summer here, but we could maybe get it working again.” Looking over to Dorian John saw him staring in the same direction with an interested look on his face. “Well,” John added as he continued to watch Dorian, “it would mostly be all you. I don’t know the first thing about engines.” He was shocked as Dorian’s face lit up as he turned back towards John. “I would love to,” he said, “it’s always great to work on a project. I could even teach you some things so we could get the job done faster.”

 _No,_ he told his recalcitrant brain, _that wasn’t crudely worded innuendo._

The extra thrust in Dorian’s hips as he walked to the edge of the water could have told him otherwise.

 _Too bad this is going to be a sexless relationship,_ he reminded himself firmly, _he may think that putting out is something that he has to do but fuck that. I will not be forcing myself on piece of machinery who has no base instincts to listen to and probably only understand consent in a theoretical sense._

That didn’t stop his dick from twitching as Dorian dove into the water and came up a few seconds later, water streaming down his face.

He was so fucked.

\-----------------------

After Dorian had swam to his heart’s content he laid down next to John on the grassy field and went into “sleep mode,” this turned off his sensors to allow them to recharge but he also put his sunglasses back on which instantly began to hum in the bright sun. _Solar panels,_ John thought, _efficient._

John went back to the book that he was slowly making his way through on his PADD and continued to munch through the snacks that he had bought out. It was one of the most peaceful moments in recent memory and he had no desire to abandon it.

But, a while later the blue, clear sky started to darken and a light rain came out of no where. The water was warm considering it was a spring shower but still. PADDs lasted but not for continued water damage. John made a mental note to have that fixed.

“Dorian,” he said as he shoved the PADD in the basket, hoping to keep it as dry as possible, “we gotta head back to the house, it’s raining and looks like it could get worse.”

A sleepy mumble came from Dorian but John couldn’t parse out an iota of it. Leaning forward he whispered, “what?” Dorian mumbled again but this time John caught a few words such as malfunction, rain, warm, and he swore the phrase piss off was in there somewhere.

“Dorian,” he grumbled as he reached forward to shake the man’s shoulder, “Dorian get up, you can nap inside. And besides, your solar panels don’t even work as well when there’s cloud coverage.”

Dorian reached up to take off his glasses and as his arm travelled upwards John felt the back of Dorian’s knuckles brush against his stomach. John froze. He hadn’t realized how he had positioned himself and now felt like a fool to realize that he was less than a foot away from Dorian’s face with the left half of his body inches away from Dorian’s.

There was really nothing to do but jostle Dorian and earn a glare before snatching the basket and making his way back towards the house.

He could admit that that hadn’t been his best plan of escape.

John got back to the house before Dorian and made his way back towards to kitchen to unpack everything that he hadn’t eaten. He went about his task efficiently but Dorian still surprised him when he turned around to find the man leaning against the wall, staring at him.

“Are you okay, John?”

Dorian’s inquiry was soft and confused and John didn’t judge him. He had been acting weird for the past few days, ever since the missive from DRN had come in actually, and it made sense for Dorian to be unsettled. John unsettled himself sometimes.  
“Yeah,” he sighed, “just the normal amount of stress. Nothing to worry about.”

Dorian seemed to take his lie as truth and stepped into the room with an understanding look. “I know that it’s hard not working to save your people, but our marriage could be beneficial for our kingdoms, and that’s not too shabby.”

John found himself unable to hold back a small smile but meeting Dorian’s gaze while doing so was painfully difficult. He did it anyway.

\-----------------------

They ended their first day on a high note despite the earlier hiccups. John found himself sprawled over the massive couch in the living room with a plate of hot wings on his stomach. He was taking the time to catch up on the movies that he had missed over the past two years and was currently on a weird adaptation of some movie called Pacific Rim that had come out in 2013. It was pretty good.

Dorian, on the other hand, had finally caved and shut off his hearing. The android was snuggled close to John with his book perched on his chest, so close to his eyes that if he had been human John would have warned him about onset blindness.

They were comfortable.

But when Dorian reached over to turn off the television as the credits started to roll John felt a stab of nervousness. He had been fine with the close contact while they had been invested in their personal interests, but if Dorian wanted to try out his “pre-husbandly duties” (which were complete bull shit by the way. _Hello consent._ ) John was not going to be okay with that.

“My charging station is in the bed,” Dorian mumbled as he snuggled deeper into John’s side, “I checked earlier and it’s pretty nifty. It’s basically like the one that I have at home but in bed form. I’m gonna have to get one later.”

John could hear the hesitation in Dorian’s voice but the guy had just mentioned sleeping and nothing else. He could work with that.

“Sounds good. I guess we don’t have to have a conversation about sides then.”

Dorian laughed and peeked up from under his lashes at John. “You’re right about that, that could have been awkward considering I don’t really sleep.”

This time it was John’s turn to laugh and blush a little. “That is true… I almost forgot.”

He meant to say more but those beautiful blue eyes caught him. Again. It was only after a long moment had passed that John realized that they had just been doing the equivalent of staring into one another’s eyes.

“Come on,” he gruffed as he shifted his body and felt Dorian catch his own weight, “lets go to bed.”

As they walked to their room John stopped short.

“Wait,” he said, “what happened to separate rooms?”

“Oh,” Dorian said, “I moved my stuff into your room since my bed doesn’t have a charging station. And then, well,” Dorian pinned John with a sharp gaze that made John want to compete and win, “I figured why would I move you to the opposite room… we’re gonna have to sleep together sometime.”

John watched the sway of Dorian’s hips as he moved up the stairs and into their apparently shared bedroom.

His cock twitched at the sight.

It was going to be a long night.


	6. Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Sorry for this short chapter (only 2k) but the next ones will be longer so don't worry too much.

_**Day 2:** _

John woke up to a beautiful morning and a warm heat at his back. He hadn’t felt so relaxed in years. The heat behind him soothed the aches in his body and his chestplate didn’t even hurt what with the warmth easing the edges and screws of the mechanism. He honestly thought that he was in paradise. So, he snuggled back into the covers and groaned his pleasure into his silky smooth pillow.

Apparently that sound was enough to make the heat move away.

“Good morning,” he heard from behind him, the voice low and sultry in the early morning. It was then that John remembered his particular bed partner and supposed heat provider.

“Mornin,” he gruffed, peeved at being forced to get out of bed but determined to do so anyway.

“Whoa,” Dorian said before grabbing onto his arm and tugging a bit, “if you sit up anymore you’re gonna let out all the heat and then where would we be? Just relax.”

John wanted to scoff and remind Dorian that his mechanical flesh wouldn’t even register the discomfort that comes with changes in temperature, but then he finally got up the nerve to look over his shoulder. There was Dorian all snuggled under the comforter with his bright blue eyes pinned on John, waiting patiently for the other man to make decision. John was a bit shocked by his body’s pull for him to lay back down but his brain couldn’t get passed the image of “burrito Dorian” so he found himself in a prone position. It felt good.

Dorian’s head turned as John’s body fell back to the bed and a small smile graced the Android’s face. They stared into one another’s eyes as the sun continued to shine through and the water beat lazily against the shoreline. John tried not to remember the last time he had done this.

“Dorian,” he finally said as he ran his hand over his face, “look, last night was weird and I’ve never done something like that before. You know, um, snuggle with someone I had just met. I mean-” John noticed that Dorian’s face had closed off, but this had kept him up last night and he had to come clean. “I know that we’re trying to find a way to make a marriage work, but I just wanted you to know that that wasn’t really me.”

Dorian was nodding his head and looking towards the end of the bed when John finished speaking. He felt bad for having to come clean but last night was just completely out of character for him and he honestly had no idea what had been going through his head. He wished he could blame it on alcohol.

But, he also realized that Dorian had been trying to jump the gap between the two of them and John wanted to do something to fix this fuck up, something that could make Dorian stop being so still and quiet. It wasn’t like him and John was getting a little freaked out.

“Um, I know that I screwed up, but we can still have fun and hang out if you’d like. It’s just that, um, I mean-” _fuck_ , he thought, _I can’t do anything right._ But Dorian was suddenly looking back up towards him and had a look of understanding on his face. John wasn’t too sure what he had understood but he was so glad that Dorian apparently wasn’t pitying him.

“It’s alright, John, I get your aversion to physical touch and I respect that.” The Android then proceeded to unhook the chord from his ear that connected to the charger in the bed. “But you’re exactly right. We can keep hanging out and can get to know one another better.” Dorian was smiling at that point and had turned back to look at John with mischief in his eyes, “in fact,” he declared, “we can get started on the speed boat and then I have a surprise for you.” John was struck dumb at the speed that Dorian was moving and the sudden excitement in his eyes, but he wasn’t about to complain. He did wince as Dorian pulled back the covers to get out of bed, but then saw so point in staying in bed with the warmth gone.

Bouncing out of bed himself and moving quickly to the on-suite bathroom, John looked over his shoulder before he slipped into the room and caught the sight of Dorian in his plain black briefs that clung to every curve of his body and the concentration on his face as he considered his clothing choices. The image was surreel so John decided to do the smart thing and forget about it.

\--------------------------------

He couldn’t forget about it.

The entire day, everything they did, ended up with them both stripped down and in Dorian’s case, stripped all the way to nothing but his shorts and boxers. It was infuriating.

First was the speedboat. They dragged it outside, onto the long driveway, and then proceeded to disassemble the engine. John got hot by the time Dorian directed him to the core of the damn thing, so his shirt came off which left him in his undershirt. Oil then sprayed onto Dorian’s face and upper body which forced his shirt to come off as well. John was half convinced that Dorian had done that on purpose. But then, Dorian figured out that there was only one part that had gone bad and that the local autobody shop should have a spare. So, they threw their dirty shirts back on, took the car, drove down, and managed to get the missing part with only a few people asking for pictures and the rest far too terrified of the royalty to do anything but gawk. It was pretty normal until John decided to stop for slushies. Said slushies then got all over the both of them until their shirts were dripping with the blueberry goodness. Their shirts came off again.

Arriving back at the house, Dorian used his robotic speed to run into the kitchen to get paper towels, laughing (breathlessly if he had been capable of it) at John’s flared nostrils and cursing at the existence of slushies in general.

As Dorian jumped from the upper most porch step to the middle of the walkway, John couldn’t help the smile that broke out over his face. He was happy to see that the melancholy from the morning had vanished from Dorian’s face and that the man was comfortable enough with him to use his abilities instead of trying to be something that he wasn’t: human.

“Alright,” John barked, his military training coming through, “you take your side, I’ll take mine, but go slow and only move in circular motions. This is pure leather.”

Dorian fixed him with a hard stare before rolling his eyes and murmuring, “yes, sir.”  
John tried desperately not to feel as a shock of heat hit him. Now was not the time for an unfortunate boner. He had leather to save.

They managed to get the slushies off the leather without messing up the upholstery but John still insisted on keeping all of the doors open to air out the car and encourage evaporation. Dorian simply went along with it with his head tucked to his chest, supposedly trying to hide a smirk.

Picking his shirt up from the ground from where he had dropped it, John considered their day so far and silently agreed with Dorian’s earlier laughter that the time together had been enjoyable. He also realized that he could feel eyes on him if the tingle down his back was anything to go by. Turning to look over his shoulder at Dorian, John saw that the Android’s eyes were stuck on his back, and in particular the skin that showed on his shoulders. John immediately knew what he was looking at and quickly tugged his overshirt back on, angry that he had forgotten his back and the mess that it was still in.

The lust that he had been plagued by all day abruptly disappeared.

“So, what was that surprise that you had for me?”

He was determined to keep the day going and to push that tidbit of himself away from their conversations. It wasn’t important anyway.

“Um,” Dorian started before clearing his throat, “I thought that we could go fishing. There’s a small fishing boat in your garage that looks pretty good and all the supplies are there as well. We can go at dusk and get the fish that swim then, I mean, it’s warm enough and all.”

Dorian was right. The stifling heat of the summer seemed to have no intention of letting up, especially not in such a humid place as the lake, and John loved fishing, loved the quiet of it, the way that one had to be still in order to get the prize, the way life on shore seemed to disappear on the water.

“I’d love to go,” he said as he smiled softly at Dorian, “lets get showered and changed first and then we’ll head out.”

Nodding, Dorian walked around the car to end up at John’s side, strong in his stance and walk. John watched him coyly and regretted his assumption that Dorian would be of no use to his kingdom since the man obviously had so much to offer that even went beyond his computerized intelligence and strength. His compassion and empathy made him so much more than John could have ever expected, and John couldn’t help the pride that sprung up inside. They would be able to do so much good together and once they adopted, their child would take the world by storm, he just knew it.

\--------------------------------

An hour later found them back on the lake, paddles in hand and fishing rods at the bottom of the boat but still in easy reach.

“Where to?” John asked.

Pointing towards the far end of the lake where the willow trees grew, Dorian softly placed his paddle in the water and pushed off. John quickly followed after, eager to feel the strain in his muscles and to hear the soft buzz of the water insects.

They didn’t speak while they moved the boat along but their silence was soft and welcoming and John found himself relaxing into the monotonous movements. But, all their peace and silence began to get to him as his brain started running. He thought about the state of his kingdom, the war that they had been dealing with for years because Reinhardt was a bastard who wanted more land to dictate to. He thought of his mother, pained after he had gone into his coma and then alone after his father had died, left with the burden of a mourning people and a war to continue. He thought of his father. John had never realized the responsibility of being King, of being the leader of an entire people, and he regretted the way that he had left his relationship with his dad. They had fought the day before John went out with Angel, arguing about the marriage again as John had wanted to put it off for another two months but his dad had insisted on two weeks from then. John, when faced with such insistence over something so important, had lashed out and verbally humiliated the King. It had not been a proud moment.

“John,” he heard softly from behind him, “we’re here, you can stop now.” John knew that Dorian was referring to his paddling, but the statement also forced him to stop his destructive thoughts. John turned his head to the side and looked out of the corner of his eyes towards Dorian. “Thank you,” he mumbled, hoping the Android would be able to understand the silent admission and appreciation.

Dorian gave a single solitary nod and passed John his fishing rod, their fingers touching during the transfer.

John sucked in a breath at the heat from that one touch and knew that Dorian had got it.

Turning back around and casting the line, John had the sudden epiphany that everything was going to be okay. He and Dorian would get married and bring their kingdoms to great heights, but they would also be happy. He couldn’t ask for anything more.

He resolved to do something nice for Dorian before they left. The man deserved nothing less.


	7. Remembrance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: panic attack (not a detailed description).

_**Day 3** _

Again with the waking up all snug and warm with the bright sun and blissed out feeling. It was something that John could get used to.

“Good morning, John,” Dorian said as he shifted and stretched his long body to ease his joints. All John managed to do was grunt and dig his face back into the soft pillow but he did flip over to face Dorian before he did so. He had figured out yesterday during their fishing trip that Dorian did not appreciate talking to someone’s back because it reminded him of being ignored. John still wasn’t too sure how the Prince and now Crown Prince of the Androids had been ignored for years, but maybe things were different in a court run by synthetics.

“Do you have anything that you’d like to do today?” Dorian asked quietly as John took his time waking up. John shook his head but dragged his eyelids upwards to find Dorian less than five inches from his face.

He hadn’t realized that he had rolled so far over. But, he made the conscious decision to stay where he was. John didn’t want to make Dorian sad like he had yesterday morning and it wasn’t like Dorian had any morning breath to make the situation awkward. And John was not going to open his mouth.

“That’s good,” Dorian said as he smiled and his eyes went soft, almost as if he had heard John’s internal argument and was proud with the outcome. “I don’t have any plans either, but my father just emailed me a copy of the plans that he and your mother are making, with Val’s help of course. Would you like to look at them with me?”

John thought about the offer for a moment, partly puzzled as to why he would be hesitating in the first place but also loathe to deal with official business that would put the pressure back on his shoulders. _But,_ he reasoned, _I am King now. Pressure is never gonna go away_

It was a depressing thought but not an incorrect one.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, turning on his back and looking up at the ceiling, “lets look at this thing.”

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, John sat up and grabbed the bottle of olive oil that he had pilfered from the kitchen yesterday night before applying the liquid to the corners of his chestplate. From behind him he heard Dorian unhooking his charging line and rustling around on the bed.

He jumped and tensed when he felt a warm hand land on his right shoulder.

“John, your back,” Dorian said softly, “would you tell me about it?” John could hear the hesitation in the man’s voice and he appreciated his bravery, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready quite yet. He hadn’t even spoken to a therapist about what had happened with Angel, even though his mother had been encouraging him to talk to someone.

Then John felt Dorian shift backwards and his hand begin to leave his skin. John grabbed onto the appendage and held it in midair, uncertain as to why he had made the move in the first place. The silence stretched as John thought about everything that he had been pushing away since he had been released from the hospital.

The events leading up to Angel’s death were still clear in his mind and he had no problem hearing the scrape of the man’s boots as John dragged his body over the concrete and dirt. He had no problem feeling the warm blood dripping over his hands from Angel’s wound even though he never actually saw where it was. He figured it was at the back of his head but it must have been huge. Lasers never left anything but a gaping hole large enough to fit your hand in… well, at least in warfare. In everyday life lasers were used to heat food, cut metal, assist in delicate surgeries, you name it. But in war… they left such destruction that John had almost forbidden his army from using them. His father had convinced him that that would have been a tactical error.

But, as John thought back over his last day of consciousness almost two years ago, he fell into a moment of confusion that had come back to him during the early days of his recovery.

_A month and a half ago…_

“Sire, please, you must take this slow. Your body has yet to accept your mechanic replacements since you keep fighting the calibration every step of the way!”

The doctor was right, whatever her name was, but he honestly didn’t give a fuck. John didn’t have time to be prancing around the room like a fucking show horse, he had an attack to plan and a kingdom to save. He needed his mother to come and pick him up, he needed a strong drink, and then he needed everyone to stop hovering and being general pains in his ass.

So, he kept moving. Walking was no problem and even moving his arms wasn’t too big of a deal, but it was the damn pull in his chest that kept throwing him off balance and he needed to figure out how to distribute the weight evenly. The physical therapist apparently thought that meant going slow. John was interested in disagreeing.

“Look,” he grumbled as he clenched his jaw and kept trying to walk in a circle, “I can do this, okay, just give me a second and I’ll show you that it’s not too-” his left foot went right and his right foot tried to run away, from what he could tell. Either way, he was falling and falling hard, much too hard to catch himself.

The pain was excruciating.

John felt his lungs get crushed under the weight of his chest plate and the corners of the metal stab into the soft flesh of his natural body. He was left almost sightless as white streaks of light pierced his vision and made his stomach try to hurl up the lunch that he hadn’t been able to force down. But, thankfully, all of that pain, all of that mind-numbing pain managed to do him a favor and push him into that half conscious state of being.

But with the reprieve, his mind took him back to the last time he had felt similarly.

_A pair of black combat boots-_

John gasped in air as he was turned on his back.

_The screech was too much, he couldn’t hear, couldn’t hear what the black boots were saying, but they were coming towards him, the heel was-_

The doctor was yelling, demanding a stretcher, saying that he needed a hospital, that there was danger.

_The boot hurt. It got him right in the cheek and he could taste the dirt as it ran into his mouth along with the blood. But the boot, the boot had been so familiar-_

His body hurt as he was hoisted from the ground and John yelled out his pain, his voice echoing through the training room.

_The bottom of that damn boot! He had seen it before, but John couldn’t hold on anymore, he wanted to sleep, to get away from the pain that that boot caused him. He wanted to cry and never stop, but the boot, the royal seal on the bottom of that boot…_

John jerked to a stand and stalked across the room, away from Dorian and his memories. He hadn’t thought of that seal since he had ordered his two most trusted soldiers (who were still alive) to find the mole within their ranks. He was fairly positive that the person who had betrayed him had been a mole but he didn’t have anything other than that seal for a lead. The soldiers of the Kennex army were all issued the same pair of boots and were only altered for special physical reasons. But every one of them had that seal on the bottom. John’s father had made that decision because while an enemy soldier could steal the clothes from a dead person’s back, they usually didn’t take the boots. Finding boots that fit you in the army was a difficult thing to do and both the Kennex and Reinhardt armies used the standard black boots that had been in commission for years, but the Kennex order had always been different, specialized. So, for that person to have had a pair of the Kennex boots meant that they either had to have been someone in his army or someone who had access to that merchandise.

But that seal… that damn seal.

If only he could remember what had been said to him. He knew that there had been speaking because through the high whine he had heard the soft tilt of cadence that only came from someone speaking on a personal level.

He had no idea what to do with that memory.

“Calm down, John, just breathe.”

He _couldn’t_ breathe. He couldn’t seem to catch any sort of breath and it hurt. He needed to sit down.

“Okay, we’ll sit down. It’s okay John, just sit here and bend over, put your head between your legs and breathe… good, good job. Now listen to me, okay? Listen to the sound of my breathing and follow along.”

John felt a soft breath against his ear and heard the puff and inhale as Dorian mimicked human breathing. John bet Dorian felt silly doing something he didn’t need to do… he followed along.

“Good,” Dorian murmured as he ran his hands over John’s sides and back, “you’re doing so well. Keep breathing with me, John.”

The two continued in that manner for the next few minutes and Dorian only let up once John’s breathing started to change from a calculated breath to something more natural.

John lifted his head and stared at Dorian with shame in his eyes.

“Please don’t feel ashamed about this,” Dorian said as he rested his forehead against John’s, almost in the same place that John had last felt Angel. “I want to help you in any way that I can just like I will need you to help me, and I know that that will take time and trust, but we’ve been having a good time and getting to know one another, and I believe that I will be able to trust you with not only myself but with my kingdom as well. And if we can possibly get to that point, I beg you to not let this moment get in the way.”

John had stared at Dorian’s face the entire time that he spoke. The Android’s eyes had been shut but John had still seen the desperation and fear in Dorian’s face.

He was tempted to run from that fear.

Luckily, he decided not to.

“I think we can work together too.” John paused and slowly brought his hand up to cup Dorian’s cheek. “But,” he whispered, his own fear coming back, “I can’t talk about this right now.”

Dorian opened his eyes and they stared at one another. John could see Dorian’s want to dig and try to help marring with his need to respect John’s wishes. Sometimes the Android seemed more human than the average living person.

“Okay,” Dorian agreed, “not right now… but,” he said, gathering his courage, “soon?”

“Soon,” John said. He then noticed that his thumb was running a short line back and forth along Dorian’s cheekbone. He stared at the digit as it seemed to move on its own volition and found his mouth opening without his permission.

“My back… after Anna, my late wife, died I got a tattoo that covered my entire back.” The room went silent as John stopped and gulped down the lump that was trying to clog his throat. “After the attack I didn't bother to get it fixed and they weren't about to bring a tattoo artist into a hospital room or send the metal to the guy, so the thing just looks fucked up now.”

He hadn't told Dorian much, hadn't even brushed the surface but that tattoo had been a part of him...

When he finally found the courage to look Dorian in the eye all he found was interest and a bit of sadness. And weirdly enough, that was okay… he could deal with that.

\--------------------------

After the early morning mess, Dorian and John agreed to take it easy and stay indoors.

Two hours after John had eaten breakfast and Dorian had read aloud from the online newspaper, John found his android out back in his father’s old garden. He had on gray gardening gloves that went up to his elbows and a spade in one hand as he dug the dirt up and turned it over. John stood, leaning against the door-jam for a good twenty minutes before Dorian deemed it okay to acknowledge his presence.

“My lord,” he mocked, “is there something that I can do for you?”

John chuckled as he walked down the steps to settle next to Dorian and lean back on his elbows. “I was actually wondering if you could tell me some stuff about yourself. I know you keep saying that we’re getting to know one another, and I agree, but I’m feeling a bit at a disadvantage here.” John smiled sheepishly and ran his hand through his hair, staring at Dorian but not too sure what his reaction was going to be.

The android grinned and turned back to his work. “Of course,” he said brightly, “go ahead and ask.”

“Um, well,” stupidly, John blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “How were you made?”

Dorian huffed and sent a short glare John’s way before answering. “Not made, but born. Not in the human way of being born, of course, but every species has their own way of coming into the world, don’t they? Some by womb, others by egg, and for us, by factory. There is a giant factory in the center of our main city, Milla, that produces all the children. The parents submit a request for a child to be made and when they’re approved they go to the factory and pick the attributes that they want their child to have. Their preferences are then put into a random generator and eight of the fifteen are chosen. The rest of the slots are then filled in with random attributes so the child is not what the parents thought would be best for them. That’s what my parents did and that’s how I was born.” Dorian looked over his shoulder to see John staring, thunderstruck.

In fact…

“Whoa.” The garden was quiet as Dorian stared at John and John stared at the dirt before them. “Dorian, that's an incredible process!” John’s eyes lit up as his excitement took over, “when you say child do you mean that you were in a smaller body and then got more intelligence as you adapted to the attributes that your parents gave you? Or have you always been in the body you have now and have always been this way? How long ago did they make you anyway? I mean-”

Dorian’s face was becoming easier to read every time he tried. This time, Dorian was pissed.

“What?” John asked softly.

“Why do you have all these questions?” Dorian hissed. “I know that we keep the attributes thing a secret but everything else is out there, in textbooks, for all the galaxy to read!” John sucked in a breath and bit his lower lip, but refused to look away. He found that Dorian responded better in all situations when people were actually looking at him.

“It’s not that we don’t have literature and the studies on Androids,” John began, “it’s just that I was brought up as Crown Prince and Military Commander. My biology and science classes had more to do with how viruses could affect the human body and the populous at large and how to take down an Android rather than about how your people are born.”

John saw the visible slump in Dorian’s shoulders and it made his heart ache.

“Is that why you were so against marrying one of us?” Dorian asked quietly.

“No,” John answered immediately as he moved to his knees, somehow understanding that he needed to be eye level with Dorian rather than propped up on his elbows. “No,” he tried again, “I didn’t want to get married because I thought that I would be abandoning Anna.” John’s admission shocked them both into silence. The atmosphere was staggering.

"Dorian," John tried again, desperate to ignore his last words, "I'm sorry that I seemed insensitive, it's just that I was never taught that stuff and never looked it up myself." He paused before giving Dorian a slight smile, "I would like to learn though."

This time it was Dorian’s smile that was sheepish. “I know I overreacted and I’m sorry for that. And I would love to tell you anything that you’d like to know.”

John figured he looked pretty foolish as he kneeled in the dirt behind his parent’s old summer home and stared into the eyes of a fantastic and gorgeous Android.

He couldn’t find it in himself to care.

\-------------------------------

The back and forth emotions of the day got to them both and they collapsed into bed pretty early with John muttering about wanting to feel the sun as soon as possible.

It was far past the time when the two were deep in their separate sleep cycles, but if either one had been awake they would have been shocked to see that their fingers had become intertwined within the night and had slowly been pulling them together until they were only a few scant inches apart.

Neither one of them ever knew.


	8. Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter involves light torture and light gore, so please read with caution if it's not your cup of tea.

_**Day 4** _

“Alright, those papers that your dad sent over yesterday, let’s see ‘em.”

An array of documents projected themselves onto the table and John quickly began to thumb through. “Anything that really stuck out to you?” he asked as he bit into a breakfast pastry.

“They’ve created a good standing point and your lead military specialist, Sandra Maldonado, is working with them on figuring out which ranks to send where. It seems as if they’re having trouble deciding on a time to attack, but the blueprints of Reinhardt’s camps have all recently been updated.” Dorian’s eyes flicked to his, intellect shining brightly through. “It seems weird, doesn’t it? Those blueprints haven’t been updated in about six months, but then they just so happen to refresh at the right time.”

John nodded and began typing out notes for his mother. “I don’t trust them either, but Mother and everyone else have most likely picked up on that bit. There must be some reason why they’ve decided to work with the prints.” John saw Dorian nodding, but the Android’s attention was elsewhere.

“Whatcha thinkin’?”

“It’s just-” Dorian huffed and placed his chin in his hand, “these are private documents, why not say what’s up?”

John chuckled at Dorian’s word choice but stopped short. He wasn’t wrong.

Looking back at the document, John found the section describing the prints and noticed his mother’s wording. “It’s a code,” he said as he double tapped on the glass to make the words larger. “Mom and I used to give one another notes with little secrets or stories in them and they’d make my dad so angry. Look, right here, it’s the first word of every sentence and then the fifth word after that word until you get to the end of the paragraph. So… With care, blueprints false, infiltrated forces, stay behind.”

John shoved his chair backwards and stormed towards the stairs. He could hear Dorian behind him, keeping pace but not offering any opinion, and for a moment John considered simply doing what his instincts were telling him to do.

Then he remembered that Dorian was supposed to be his partner now, someone that he could trust, and someone who was supposed to be able to trust him.

“What do you think?” he asked as he grabbed a duffle from where it had been thrown in a corner before making his way to the dresser.

“I think that this warning is something that we should listen to. You are King and I am Crown Prince and we have an obligation to stay alive for our people, but they are our parents and staying here seems dumb.”

“So?”

“So, I say we go.”

John stopped packing and turned his head towards Dorian. He could see that the guy was conflicted, but he was staring at John with determination and that alone solidified John’s decision to get back home and help.

But, he wanted to do something else first.

Walking over until he was a few scant inches away from Dorian, John softly cupped the other man’s face and ran his thumbs over the curve of Dorian’s cheekbones, fascinated by the sharp cut of his jaw and the incredible blue of his eyes. “Thank you,” he said before leaning in and placing a small kiss on Dorian’s plush lips. The Android gasped but didn’t pull away and John could feel the soft sweep of Dorian’s eyelashes brush against his cheek.

When John pulled back he saw that Dorian’s eyes had shut during the kiss and that shock and pleasure seemed to be stuck on his face. John smiled in the relative privacy of the moment before moving his hands to stroke down Dorian’s arms.

“This is the right thing to do,” he murmured as Dorian opened his eyes. “They need us there, and we need to be there.”

Dorian’s features tightened and his determination sprang back forth. John was disappointed to see the soft look fade, but the soldier before him was who he needed.

“Let’s go.”

\--------------------

The drive back to the city was longer than John remembered. They hit almost every traffic light and the congestion on the roads was horrible which made sense what with it being rush hour and people were scrambling to get to work. Not that work really meant what it used to, but those were the outcomes of war.

Lost in his worry, John failed to notice as the car started drifting towards the side of the highway until Dorian caught his eye and raised an eyebrow in question. John quickly tried to right the direction of the vehicle, but the wheel wouldn’t budge. “Something’s going on,” he grunted, “the damn thing won’t work.” Frowning, Dorian’s face cascaded into a luminous blue that matched his eyes, and John momentarily forgot about driving.

“I think the problem is that we’re just about to reach the city’s limits. There is a subroutine programmed into the vehicle that’s keeping us from driving back early.” Dorian glanced over at John and waited as the car drifted safely to a stop before speaking again. “The first turn off into the city is 1.6 miles ahead of us, and we passed another exit 1.3 miles behind us. It’s up to you as to where you wish to get a car from, but I recommend going to the exit behind us. There is a used car shop half a mile down the road from the off ramp, and the closest shop to the the exit ahead of us is 2.5 miles south.”

In response John turned his body to look for cars, but the freeway was too congested to get out safely. “Fine,” he said as he pushed Dorian out of the passenger side door so he could scramble over the center console.

The walk back was just as tense and silent as the car ride had been, but Dorian could feel an extra layer of anger as they got further and further away from the city. It was understandable and Dorian couldn’t help the flash of worry every time he thought of his father and sister, but he also knew that everyone in the city was capable of doing what needed to be done. Sadly, he wasn’t too sure if John could remember that at this point.

“Which way is it?,” the man in question huffed as they made it to the top of the off ramp.

“Go left,” Dorian replied. It was only then that he realized that it was a Sunday. Hiding his wince, Dorian quickly checked the online database to see if the place was even open, and it was with relief that he saw that they had one more hour until the place closed.

John put on a burst of speed as they covered the last hundred feet to the store before stopping abruptly.

“I’ve-” John jammed his fingers into his hair, “I’ve never bought a car.” He looked sideways at Dorian, half hoping that the Android had purchased a vehicle before, and half wondering if he could just pull the “King and Crown Prince of everywhere cool” card.  
Dorian pursed his lips as he shook his head and cocked an eyebrow. John was getting a bit annoyed with that thing.

“Okay, okay,” he breathed, “we’ll just go in there and tell the guy to give us the fastest car and to put it on the royal tab or something.”

“Royal tab?” Dorian scoffed.

“Yeah, it’s this thing that I just made up.” John honestly felt like the lowest of the low for lying to one of his people, but this was their national security that was being threatened.

Judging by the array of cars in the lot John figured they wouldn’t get anything faster than the Honda over in the corner, but the thing could get them home. “Hello?” he called out as he pushed the doors open, “anyone here?”

He got nothing.

“Fuck,” he grumbled, “we don’t have time for-”

Something clicked off to his side.

John followed his instincts and dropped into a crouch, pulling Dorian along with him. The Android made no noise as he began to scan their surroundings, that gorgeous blue light showing up again, and a moment later he was staring at John with wide eyes. _Five men, two on the right,_ _three on the left_ he mouthed, _assault rifles and tasers._

John scanned the room, bemoaning the fact that he hadn’t been allowed to bring a weapon, but quickly found an alternative. He moved slowly towards the welcome station as the soft sound of Dorian opening one of their bags reached his ears. John grabbed the long piece of metal that floated in the anti-grav bubble and realized that the thing was most likely an art piece, but it was firm and had a sharp point so he didn’t care very much. He then moved back towards Dorian and found the Android gripping a pocketknife that he must have had hidden somewhere.

They grinned at one another before John pointed Dorian towards the right side of the building while he went left. He was lucky that the place was circular and had enough coverage to let him hide fairly easily from the goons, but he was also at the disadvantage of not being able to see them. John kept moving in a small arc and eventually found himself rounding a corner that left him face to face with a stun gun.

He didn’t have time to feel his regret as the electricity shot through his body and left him struggling for breath, his mechanical heart beating too fast and his lungs seizing up.

From the opposite side of the room he heard a short hum and then a buzz that he figured meant Dorian had been caught unaware as well. His suspicions were confirmed as the three men crouched over him grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to his feet before zip-tying his wrists together.

John tried to fight back and managed to brain one of his kidnappers, but he instantly felt something sharp jab into his neck as a cold liquid was pushed down his throat. He kicked his legs out, trying to make them lose their grip, but could only hear gurgling coming from his throat as he tried to choke up whatever they had given him. A second later it felt as if a huge weight had settled against his chest as the injection started working.

The last thing he managed to see was Dorian’s lifeless body being pushed onto a weight carrier and the store’s manager emerge from the back room, hands wringing and tears in his eyes.

John wasn’t interested in apologies or excuses.

\------------------------

Apparently the kidnappers were interested in as much pain as they could think up.

The first time he woke it was to two thin blades piercing both sides of his body and cracking his ribs.

The second was to a pair of tweezers pulling off the nails on his thumbs and pushing them back in roughly.

The third and last time was the easiest. They had supposedly finished with the torture and now wanted answers, so he was woken with swift kicks to his already broken ribs while gallons of ice cold water were dropped on his face and into his open mouth. The combined pain wrenched gasps from him and almost made him stop breathing, but they had doctors with them who stabilized him only to throw him back in chains that were hanging from the ceiling.

John hadn’t been able to see Dorian during any of his moments of consciousness and he was sure that that wasn’t about to change anytime soon.

“Alright, Mr. King, we have a few questions for you and it would be really nice if you just cooperated.”

The voice wasn’t something that he had heard before, but that didn’t really matter in this day and age. John tried to take note of something else in the room, something that he could use when he took these fuckers down, but the matted blood all over his head was making it hard to see.

“Awwww,” a voice mocked as another pair of boots walked into the small line of sight that John had. “The little King is mad isn’t he? You see that?” John felt two gusts of air hit his forehead as the people leaned forward. “That huge ass vein of his always _pops_ right out every time he gets pissy. It’s kinda disgusting.” The two laughed as they moved away but John was stuck on the fact that he was being tortured by the damn mole in his army and he couldn’t even figure out who it was.

“How ‘bout this,” one of them spoke again, “you tell us the location of the atom detonator that Mummy dear has been hoarding and we will let you say goodbye to your little robot hubby before we kill you.”

John did not like the sound of that and made his opinion known by spitting towards where he thought the men were standing. And, judging by the affronted sound of disbelief, he had made his mark.

The slap to his already torn skin made his victory much more dull.

\---------------------------

The sounds of pain digging into his ears didn’t seem to be coming from him, but John couldn’t understand who else it could be.

“Wakey, wakey, sire, I have something you might like to see,” a voice snarled into his ear, while the mouth threw spittle onto his face. John felt his eyelids get yanked open and a sharp pain stab through his skull as two tiny pins clipped the lids to his eyebrows. Through the pain and bright slabs of light cutting through his retinas John saw Dorian strapped to a surgeon's table with chords jammed into the blue of his brain. It looked like a scene out of a B rated horror film, but the screams that Dorian kept making were filled with agony.

“Let him-” John couldn’t push the words past his bruised throat.

“Let him, he says, ohhhh,” the kidnappers all took turns laughing in his face and a few even took the chance to slap him around a bit. One licked his cheek and nibbled on a throbbing eyebrow.

John forced himself to focus on the important things: there were six people in the little parade, every person had a different tread, and four of them were taller than average, but that wasn’t too rare in an army.

His eyes stayed on Dorian the entire time.

John couldn’t figure out what they were doing to Dorian, but from the grumbling off to the side of the room it seemed like they couldn’t get past his shields. John could have cried with relief from that alone, but he had long since dried up his tear ducts.

One of the kidnappers stepped in front of him and snapped his fingers in John’s face in an attempt to get his attention. John imagined being able to see right through his bulk to Dorian. “Kingy boy, listen closely. We are really only interested in one thing and that’s that atom detonator. We don’t care about you or your little synthetic over there and once we get our hands on that weapon, your pitiful little kingdom will be wiped from the maps and history itself. So,” the man smirked, obviously pleased with his speech, “why don’t you just listen to the people who are going to kill you and try to buy yourself some more time?” When John continued to ignore his presence the man took it upon himself to get the information in a more productive manner.

“Fine,” he said as he moved aside and let John see Dorian suffer through the electric shocks and assaults on his system, “I’ve learned a little about you over the years and everyone is fairly sure that you’ve gotten pretty fucking suicidal. I mean, that bitches’ death really did you in, huh?”

John tried desperately not to respond but he could feel his anger building and wanted nothing more than the strangle the maggot where he stood.

“So, I’m thinking that if one death is enough to fuck you over, I could only imagine what two would do, especially if I “killed” someone as pretty as this fucker here.” The air quotes that the kidnapper did around the word killed only fueled John’s anger, and despite his resolve he felt himself begin to struggle against his chains.

The man simply laughed and clamped one hand down on John’s shoulder. The force of the blow forced John’s legs out from underneath him as well as cry of pain from him as his wrists caught his entire weight. He swayed slightly and cried weakly through his gasping as his lungs took on too much pressure.

The man moved back in front of him and extended a hand, “hello, Commander,” he said as he turned off the voice alternator, “it’s lovely to see you again.”

That voice. John knew that voice.

Forcing his head upwards, and helped with a gentle pressure against his chin, John stared in disbelief.  
  
“Rudy?” he choked out.

“No,” Rudy chuckled, “that name is so old and that man is long dead. It’s Reinhardt now.”

A blunt force to the back of his head helped push John into unconsciousness.


	9. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has gore and it's a bit heavier than the last chapter. Read at your own risk.

**_Day 5_ **

John woke to the sound of feet hitting the floor and pained gasps coming from somewhere close by. He could feel the heat of some sort of light on his face and he finally managed to focus long enough to notice the tube that ran down his throat. But what worried him the most was the laughter. He could hear a high pitched laugh, a baritone laugh, a squeaky one, and one that sounded like a mix between a chuckle and a cough. All of the laughs were above his head, standing very close.

“Kingy boy, why don’t you open your eyes, huh?” One of them whispered into his ear.

“We know you’re awake, shithead, so just do us all a favor and open those pretty eyes.” That sounded like the person who had the deeper laugh.

“Now, now,” said the voice that John wanted to rip to shreds, “lets give John a second to get his bearings, hm?” The blindfold was abruptly ripped off and the sticking tape pulled at the fine hairs on John’s face, but he barely felt the pain as light pierced through his newly returned eyesight and suddenly left him blind.

The room was silent as John squinted and tried to calm his racing heartbeat, but Rudy didn’t leave him be for long.

“The atom detonator, John,” came the soft voice at his ear. “Do you know where it is?”

“No,” John grit out, unwilling to let the bastard know that he had no idea what an atom detonator even was.

“Come now, John,” John tried not to squirm away from the voice that he knew belonged to Rudy but didn’t sound a thing like the man. The scientist he knew, the friend that he used to have, had been a good man. He had gotten excited over his work and had always chatted a mile an hour while John had tried and failed to keep up with him. The Rudy he knew wore suits and hats, he built little machines and robots just because he could, he enjoyed the sun and often read outside on his lunch breaks, his birthday had just passed right before John had gone under and the party had been fantastic… the Rudy above him didn’t make sense.  
“What do you say?” Came Rudy’s voice, breaking through John’s confused thoughts.

Trying to remember what Rudy had said while he had been thinking, John decided to rest on a grunt of neither approval nor disapproval.

“You weren’t even listening to me, were you?”

John hid his instinctual flinch and instead glared at the man who had moved into his line of sight. He didn’t know this one’s face and there was nothing distinctive about him, but that smirk on his face pissed John off. Suddenly there was another face in front of him, Rudy this time. The man looked infuriated and completely different from the last time John had seen him. He had always been thin, but this man looked gaunt, almost malnourished, and his eyes were so shrunken into his head that the bags under his eyes seemed to take up half his face. Most of his hair was gone as well, and what was left stuck to his head and seemed to drip with the amount of sweat that the man was producing. John didn’t see how that was possible since it was so cold in the room.

“John,” he snapped, “do you remember your friend over there? Dorian, I believe his name is.” John forced himself to focus and glared at the man before him. “Yes,” Rudy chuckled, “I thought that might work.”

With that, he grabbed onto the handle right next to John’s head and rotated the bed until John was facing out towards the medical room.

“That,” Rudy said, pointing, “is where I would like you to watch.”

John watched as the door off to the side of the room opened and another bed was lead in. On the bed laid Dorian. He had his eyes closed and seemed to have been shut down or he had turned himself off, but, either way, he was long past physical pain.

“Now, John,” Rudy said from beside him, “you see how Dorian is turned off? Well,” John saw as Rudy flicked a switch and Dorian came back online, blinking slowly. “This exercise will hurt him, no doubt about that, but it’s also for your benefit as well. You see, we need some information from you and I know that you don’t cooperate too well when your own life is threatened. But, you have too much honor, too much pride, to let someone else suffer for you.”

John couldn’t breathe. His mind scattered and panic started rising as the weight of the situation settled on him. He didn’t know what the atom detonator was, let alone where is was. If he tried to tell Rudy that the man would either not believe him or he would start killing people… and most likely the first to be shot would be Dorian. John had no way of getting out of this and Dorian was going to be hurt because of him.

He couldn’t let that happen.

“Look,” he grumbled out, “my team encrypted the location of the detonator so that no one can say its location or write it down. The information has been wired into me and I’m the only one who knows where to go.” John couldn’t see Rudy so he didn’t know if the man believed him. But, it wasn’t a totally implausible scenario since his scientists, Rudy had been one of them actually, had figured out the Drop feature long ago. Information went one way, straight into the chip that every soldier had implanted, and if the soldier died or the chip was touched in any way, all of the information would be wiped. The soldier was also the only one that could access the information, not even a bot could get through to the core. It was a nifty piece of tech and John could do nothing but wait and hope that Rudy bought it.

“So, what you’re saying is that we have to follow you to some random area and simply trust that you’re leading us to the right place.” John could hear Rudy tapping his foot and saw the lugs in front of him shift nervously.

“Alright, John,” Rudy said, “I’ll trust you on this, but I’m going to need a bit of insurance.”

That didn’t sound good.

“What do you mean,” he asked with terpretation.

“Well,” Rudy shrugged as he walked back into John’s line of sight, “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.” The man leaned down until he was nose to nose with John and from behind Rudy’s back he heard an old electric saw buzz to life. “That bullet that went through your chest missed it’s mark.” John heard the power increase in the machine. “It was actually meant to go through that pretty head of your and give you no chance. But,” a sheen of madness seemed to swipe over Rudy’s face and John couldn’t be sure if he had been hallucinating or not, “since I need your brain, I think I’m gonna take something else.”

The sharp blade of the saw was abruptly shoved into the meat of his right thigh and John could do nothing to hold back his howl of pain and the tears that rushed down his face.

A moment later he was out.

\----------------------------

Waking up was difficult. John could feel a hard slab under his back but there was so much morphine pumping through his veins that he could barely see two feet in front of him. But, all of his senses seemed to be trying to focus on the strong ache in his leg. The area right above his knee was burning from the inside out, and he couldn’t seem to get his calf to move; it was almost like there was some type of nerve damage. He tried to keep moving the leg and force it to at least twitch, but all he got for his troubles was a sharp pain that aimed straight at his heart. He gave up after his attempts had him gasping for breath.

In the silence of the room John could hear his heartbeat increasing by the second so he forced his body back into his early training. Taking deep breaths, John centered himself and focused on his head. He mentally traced over his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and chin, feeling for any signs of pain. When he found nothing he continued through the rest of his body and felt better as he noticed the lack of bruises and cuts. From what he could tell, his ribs had been put back together and even his mutilated fingers had bandaging over them. But, just as he was about finished, John focused back on his trouble stop, the right calf. He tried to trace along it and allow the synapses in his brain to tell him if the calf was hurt at all, but he couldn’t feel anything.

Opening his eyes, John frowned and tried to lever himself up to look downwards. He managed to push his body up a few scant inches and hold the position long enough for him to see why he was in pain.

 _My leg’s gone_ , he thought, _my leg-_ , John couldn’t get further than that.

For the second time in a week John felt himself beginning to hyperventilate. He could feel his lungs beginning to clamp as his mind scattered through the life that he could be faced with. No more free movement. No more autonomy. No more say over leading his army, over protecting his people, over protecting Dorian… Dorian. John gasped and choked on his tears as he thought about the Android. If they, well, if Rudy, had taken John’s fucking leg, then Dorian was probably crushed to bits and being sold for scraps. John couldn’t even begin to hope that Dorian would return safe and that the man would be able to live a happy life. It was too impossible.

The pain of his thoughts and the panic that he couldn’t seem to control left John with hot tears running from the corners of his eyes, soaking his shirt. He had never felt so defeated.

But, the initial fear that he experienced must have triggered an alert somewhere, because Rudy and his goons chose that very moment to barge in.

John could see Rudy stalking towards him, his shoulders thrust back and a thin smirk on his face. John couldn’t even muster up the effort to care, let alone fear him.

“What did you do with him?” he croaked.

“Your pet?” Rudy sneered, “I’ve disposed of him in the specified containers. As you’re supposed to do with trash.”

John sighed and a heavy weight settled on his chest. He relaxed his head and stared up at the ceiling, incapable of moving past the confirmation.

“Now, now, Johnny,” Rudy said as he leaned onto John’s bed and pushed his face into John’s line of view. “No mourning for the bot, Kennex, we have a job to do, and unless you want your people to bleed even more, you will suffer me.”

John shivered at the cold heat in Rudy’s voice and felt the pressure of the situation rising even further. He held himself as still as possible and refused to look Rudy in the face, but John could feel his own frustration and anguish building and wanted nothing more than to cry. For once in his life he actually wanted to listen to his mother about that feelings thing, and of course, he couldn’t.

Suddenly John felt a thin rod push up against the tender flesh at the base of his right thigh and he couldn’t help the whimper and spasm of pain that ripped through him. It was all too much.

“We’re gonna put the best known tracker on you, John, and you had better not think of trying to escape, lead us in the wrong direction, or alert anyone. Because,” Rudy chuckled, “that nifty piece of machinery is meant for bots, not humans, so it’s not exactly compatible with your body. And guess what?” Rudy waited for John to answer but the man refused to lose that last small piece of pride. That was until Rudy slapped him across the face with a paddle laced with small nails that dragged through his skin. John howled at the pain and tried to jerk his body away but the metal had stuck in his cheek and was pulling his skin off. John had never felt something so painful before.

“What?” he gasped, desperate for the paddle to disappear and frantic to get this over with. He needed some sort of rest and he momentarily wished for unconsciousness.

“Good job, John,” Rudy mused as he yanked the nails from John’s skin, causing him to cry out and sob past the pain. “Well, since you asked so nicely… since the leg isn’t designed for you, it will explode in 48 hours. So that’s all the time you have, kiddo, two days.”

John didn’t notice as the synthetic leg was pushed onto his nub and he barely recognized the fact that Rudy had left again. All he could do was hope.

Two days. Two days and his mother will have expected him home. Even when he dies and will have no way to warn her, she’ll know that something is wrong. She’ll prepare. His people will be safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this was so short! Hopefully it will keep until the next chapter.


	10. Run

_**Days 6 through 7**_

Lying through your teeth about the location of things that you don’t know the first thing about is difficult.

With all the pain coursing through his body, John was having a hard time remembering the last lie he told Rudy before he had been hauled into a car, let alone the last direction he had given the idiotic man who was driving said car.

“Did you say next left or right?” The moron asked, thus relieving John of some of his worry. If he couldn’t stand to remember what John had said five minutes ago, then why worry?

“The next right,” he mumbled, only belated wondering if the driver had been testing him. But, the man simply grunted and did as he was told. John tried not to show his relief.

“What next,” the man said, turning slightly to look at him.

“Go another 30 miles on this road and we should hit a desert-like place. I’ll tell you more when we get there.”

The lackey scowled but turned back around. John felt grateful as he was left to his momentary peace and isolation. His body was falling apart and he’d much rather not have people look at it, even the lackey who didn’t have two brain cells to rub together.

Now, combined with the stress that his constant panic was giving him, his chest plate felt like it was pushing itself deeper and deeper into his flesh, and John could feel that damn mechanical lung trying its hardest to keep up. But, no matter all the quiet exercises that he tried, John couldn’t seem to get the thing to relax.

He sorta figured that he was having some sort of mini panic attack. It wasn’t pleasant.

The added pressure of his sawed off leg wasn’t helping either. Plus, the scars on his face that were now oozing white pus apparently extended to the edge of his right eye. They itched.

The thirty miles to the desert that John vaguely remembered from his childhood hobby of dirtbike riding was closer than he thought. The man was soon turning around and regarding him with a cool stare. Not for the first time John wondered why Rudy had sent him with only one body guard, but he supposed it made sense since he wasn’t much of a threat at this point and that he’d be dead in less than 15 hours.

“Go northwest,” he said, frantically trying to remember how long this place extended, “I’ll know the place when I see it, but I’m pretty sure it’s about another 200 miles out. The information is a bit fuzzy in my head right now, so we must be getting close.”

The guard stared a bit more before sighing and throwing his door open. John had a moment of panic as he imagined being strangled or shot to death by the behemoth of a man just for making him drive almost 33 hours straight with nothing more than anti-sleep shots and about 25 cups of high grade coffee.

Instead, the man simply walked a few feet away, stretching in a fashion that made John groan in jealousy, before unzipping his slacks and taking a piss. The sound of the heavy stream reached John all the way in the car and he was immediately reminded of his aching bladder. The guard has refused to let John out of the car and had shoved a phaser gun in his face when he had asked to do his business. John had asked again a few hours later and the man had punched his leg. The restroom questions had stopped after that.

Trying to limit his squirming, John shifted minutely as the man started walking back to the car, but his bladder had come back to life.

Seeing the movement, the man smiled and fingered his phaser gun. He was a menace.

“Look,” John said, “you don’t want me to piss in your car, I get that, but if I don’t piss out there I will piss in here, and that will be your fault. I can’t hold it anymore, and the rest of this ride is gonna smell horrible.”

“You’re not gonna do that,” the man grunted as he swung himself back into the front seat, “you don’t wanna get shot.”

Scoffing, John gestured to his body. “One more shot isn’t gonna make this any worse, and you need my brain. So, you either let me take a piss outside or I go in here and it will mix with the blood from the wound that you’re about to give me.”

The car was silent as they glared at one another, John desperately trying not to shift and land on his bladder.

“Fine,” the guard snarled, “you have two minutes.”

John had never moved so fast in his life.

The car door unlocked as John reached out to yank the handle, and a moment later he was hobbling on one leg, frantically trying to unzip and hop at the same time. He looked ridiculous, he knew that, but during his struggle he also found out that he could put some weight on his leg and that the damn thing didn’t clamp up the moment he started moving. It was a good sign.

John tested the workability of his leg as he pissed for a good two minutes straight, and it seemed to work rather well. He put most of his weight on it as he leaned to the right and shook his cock, the weight of his bladder blessedly non-existent, and bent slightly at the knees as he zipped back up. So far so good. Walking back was a bit weird since the leg decided to jerk one or twice, but other than that he moved well. From the short distance he could tell that he accepted the leg a lot better than the chest plate since his new appendage was a bit more essential in his mind, and he couldn’t help the small jump of hope in his chest.

Maybe he could get away after all. Maybe he could have a chance. Maybe, just maybe, he could save his people. And, maybe… maybe he could find Dorian and get his future husband back.

The hope hurt, but despite himself he didn’t let it go. He deserved something good in his life after all this shit, and for the first time he knew what he wanted. He wanted Dorian.

\---------

Two hours into their last haul, and John had no plan of escape. Sure, he had considered the old jumping out of a moving car stunt, but he actually wanted to live and the doors were locked from the inside anyway. He had also tried to find something to use to knock the guy out, but the car was sparkling clean and John doubted that a good old fashioned punch would do much to the giant currently driving the car.

The only possible scenario that he had come up with involved him kicking the man’s head in with the artificial leg. It was looking more and more like the way to go.

The only thing that was holding him back was the idea of a trigger in the leg that might go off if he tried to use it in any accelerated way. There was the distinct possibility that Rudy had placed some sort of sensor in the leg that would alert him to any weird activity, but at the same time, that type of technology was always faulty. One wrong jerk of the leg could send a trigger off, but if you kicked a door down the thing had a 50% chance of staying dormant.

But, he was running out of time and needed to make a decision soon.

Looking around one last time to make sure that there wasn’t something sharp that he could use, stuffed into the seats, John resolved himself to taking his chance.  
Slowly leaning down and bracing his forearms on his knees, John felt around with his right hand and examined the latches on the leg. The thing seemed to have been seared on tight, and he almost missed the small line that separated his skin from the metal, but he also knew that the leg came off. No technology had been made so far to allow mechanical legs to function without some sort of power, so they had to be detached at intervals and recharged. Apparently it wasn’t the most detrimental thing since the recharge process only had to happen once a week, but John was now worried that the latches didn’t actually come undone until the leg was out of power.

Sitting back with a soft sigh, John considered his last option of kicking the man in the chest and killing him that way.

It was honestly the option that he wanted to go with since the idea of falling over after braining the guy with his fake leg held no appeal. But, he also knew that his body was in no shape for such a powerful kick. He could swing, and he knew that his lungs would be able to take the movement, but his ribs still bothered him. Having to take that extra force on his body as he leaned back to kick the guy was something that he didn’t think his ribs could manage. They were slowly healing and the medical work that had been done on him had helped wonders, but he knew that they were still broken in some places and that the tenderness often jerked him awake as his body slumped over.

Back to taking off the leg it was.

Feeling back around the edges and pressing lightly on the latch on the inside of his thigh, John felt a small button that rolled when he brushed against it. The button was situated at the top of the latch and was easy to miss, so it was most likely the way out of this thing.

John slowly reached to the three other latches on the leg and felt around for something similar. He wasn’t surprised when he managed to find a button on each latch, but he was annoyed that they never stopped turning. There was no click as he rubbed one button back and forth, desperate for an indication that it could unlock some sort of mechanism, but he was left clueless by the time he got back to the original latch.

Trying to keep his frustration from showing, John leaned back until his head hit the headrest. The mass of muscle was still driving, oblivious to John’s inspection of his leg, and the mileage indicated at least another 45 minutes before his 200 miles were up. He didn’t have time for this shit.

Breathing slowly, John tried to come up with a reason as to why the buttons weren’t working. The most likely factor was that they all had to be pressed at the same time, but the leg could also only be removed by Rudy what with the fingerprint technology that was everywhere nowadays. Or, the bastard had broken the unlock mechanism and that’s why they wouldn’t click. Either way, he was pretty much screwed.

 _But,_ he thought suddenly, _what if two need to be pressed at once and then the other two? That worked for Alia when their leg got jammed…_

It was worth a try.

Placing one finger on each side of his knee and pressing down on the buttons, John felt a soft release around his leg and grinned. This could work. He then pushed at the final two buttons and twitched as a slight puff of air escaped the leg and brushed against his stump. But, the fact that the leg now seemed to have detached itself from John, he could feel a lump of happiness begin to build in his chest. Now all he had to do is sit back and wait. It was going to be a long ride.

\--------

By the time they made it to the 200 mile mark John was ready to get this over with. The lackey had remained oblivious to John’s tampering (as far as John knew at least), and he was planning on braining the other man as soon they stepped foot outside.

Luckily for John there was an old, decrepit building not even 500 feet from them and the irony at actually getting what he needed when he needed it was not lost on him. Before this moment he would have sworn that something convientently placed only happened in really shittily written stories.

“Over there,” John said while pointing towards the shack, “it’s voice activated though, so I’m gonna have to come with you.”

The man glared back at him through the rearview mirror but didn’t argue. That was also something that John could have sworn was dramatized. People in his life never shut the fuck up.

Not even bothering to reach for the door handle since the bastard was most likely gonna make him sit and wait in humiliation for a bit, John wiggled his leg to make sure that the robotic limb hadn’t accidentally reattached itself to him. Apparently he was in the clear.

A second later his door was yanked open and John found himself face to face with that phaser gun. The thing was humming and John had no intention of getting vaporized, so he slowly lifted his left leg from the car and gripped the knee of his right. The man moved back as John slowly got out while putting on a show of pain, but the gun never left him. Grunting, John stood straight and shoved his stump further into the robotic limb. He heard a soft click before two rods punched against the tender skin and held the two legs together with the emergency back up gear that came standard. It was excruciating.

Moving slowly with his head held high, John managed the 500 feet to the shack and only barely held back from collapsing on the door.

“Alright, prince,” the meathead said, “lets get this over with so I can kill you.”

He wasn’t the nicest of people.

“What if I need to say the activation code and you can’t turn this thing on until you get back, hm?”

“Stasis, you moron,” the man responded with a roll of his eyes, “how did you think we were gonna get it back? Drag your sorry ass right into the milieu so you could try and make some half-brain escape like bashing me over the head with that leg?”

John sucked in a breath and tried not to feel his panic.

The man continued. “You really think that you’re smarter than everyone, don’t you, John?”

John could feel the wood of the door digging into his hand from where he had pressed against the building, but his entire being was focused on the man whose name he didn't know.

“That’s your problem,” the man said, “it always has been.”

John’s ears perked at that but he couldn’t figure out what to make of it. “Do you know why Rudy changed his name to Reinhardt?" the man asked before pausing. John only shurgged and waited. “When the original Reinhardt died Rudy took over because he saw how corrupted and backwards your kingdom is. He wanted to make a home that could actually change the world instead of furthering the propaganda and hatred that your daddy dear spewed everytime he opened his mouth.” John grit his teeth and felt as his lip split open.

“Did you know,” the man hissed, “that the taxes he put on your people has left more families in poverty and homelessness than in the entirety of your family’s rule?” Shaking his head, John stared hard at the wood, trying desperately to block out the words.

“It’s true, you halfwit, but you were always so caught up in being the Military Commander that you didn’t give a fuck about anything else.” John felt spittle on the back of his neck as the man drew near. “And that’s exactly why I left.”

The traitor. Of course Rudy had sent him out here with the traitor.

“Sure, go ahead,” the man chuckled, “be mad at me, but at least I recognized you.” John cocked his head to the side and tried his damnedest to see out of the corner of his eye.

“It doesn’t matter now, John,” the man sighed, defeat in his words, “just open the doors, I have a new home to get to.”

Scrunching his eyes, John placed his hand on the print scanner and said his name, assured in the fact that nothing would happen and that he could have the chance to fight his way out.

A second later, the door opened.

 _Fuck,_ he thought as he looked in and saw a silver cube about the size of a large present sitting on the floor.

What were the odds?


	11. Growth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for taking so long on this. Life has been horrid (hello finals week) and hearing that AH got cancelled took away a lot of my happiness. :( But... we will keep going! Here's another chapter that gets us back to our plot!!

**_Day 7 continued_ **

“Good job,” the man said as he pat John on the back and moved towards the device. “I’m really glad that you weren’t bullshitting your way here.”

_Yeah_ , John thought bitterly, _way to go me_.

It didn’t make sense though. Whatever that thing was, it wasn’t supposed to be here, not in the random place that John had pulled from a long forgotten childhood memory which was scratchy at best and nonexistent at the worst.

“Okay, prince, go ahead and say the activation code so I can get going.”

That slight rubbed John the wrong way, but he had to keep calm, he knew that.

“I actually can’t help you on this one.” He smirked as he shrugged his shoulders. “I wasn’t trusted with something as important as the activation code. We always ran in pairs, you know that, and…”

The damn cube was glowing.

Laughing, the man strolled over to the cube and squinted down at it. “Voice activation, prince, it’s a thing.”

John stared in horror as the edges of the cube opened outwards and a bright purple light cascaded onto the walls of the shed.

The man scoffed and rolled his eyes while murmuring something about royals and their insurmountable egos. John was loathe to agree.

Shifting his weight firmly onto his good leg, John took a moment to prepare himself. If he was actually going to do this, actually going to fight a man who used to be in his army, actually going to wrench the gun from his hand and kill him with it, John needed to be in the right mindset. But, before he could take a breath and find his center, the man took his gun off of John and pointed it at the cube.

That didn’t make sense either.

“You might want to stand back,” the man murmured as he stepped closer, “this is gonna be big.”

_What?_

The guy simply sighed and upped the power on his phaser gun to maximum.

John took a step back.

The whine of the power escalating filled the shed and John decided that thinking wasn’t the best idea right then.

Rocking back on his heels, John steadied himself and pushed off with the muscles in his left leg. He tried his hardest to keep his weight off of his mechanical leg as he ran towards the man, but the sharp stab of pain that shot up his spine everytime he moved let him know of his failure. A bit of pain didn’t seem all that important though, so he kept moving.

Reaching the man, John slammed his shoulder into his back and rolled them away from the cube. But, as they were falling, John heard the blast of power come from the gun and he knew that he had been too late. A second later the cube exploded outwards and John saw slabs of metal ricochet towards their faces. Luckily, the emergency force field activated and contained the explosion.

The second after that, the force field broke.

\---------------

John woke to an inferno. From what he could make out, there was a body in front of him, most likely the security detail’s, but John couldn’t tell if he was hurt let alone alive.

Struggling to sit up, John clutched his head and stomach as the change in positions almost caused him to vomit, but his unreliable stomach was instantly overshadowed by the two inch nail sticking out of his right thigh. John cursed as he leaned forward and grabbed ahold of the round head before yanking at it, but the damn thing was stuck tight. Breathing harsh, John felt panic and pain beginning to build in his chest, and his confusion about the nail only added to his fear. But, even that tidbit wasn’t as important as the smoke that he was inhaling and the fire that was burning steadily around him.

He didn’t know what to do exactly in this type of situation. The military had never been trained in fire safety since it wasn’t really an issue that happened anymore. The automatic force fields that formed around every explosion or spark had always kept fire issues to about one or two a year. But this… this was apparently too big for the force field.

Looking around, John realized that he was lucky to have even seen the small amount that he had when he had first woken up, because now he couldn’t tell his right from his left, let alone where the exit was.

Swinging his arms out in front of him, John felt nothing but scorching hot air. It would have to do.

Pushing himself up by his hands and onto his good knee, John huffed out a harsh breath and felt his body begin to shake. His hearing kept getting interspersed with a shrill wail, and he took a moment to be concerned about his eardrums, and his eyes were producing too many tears for him to be able to see straight. But it was the oxygen issue that really concerned him. The man, the bodyguard, whatever you wanted to call him… he wouldn’t be able to get out of the building on his own, and he was getting less and less oxygen to his brain by the second. John had to try and get him out.

Swinging his left arm around, John felt for the fabric of the man’s shirt and gripped as hard as he could. When he knew that he had a decent grasp, John pulled and grabbed the man around the waist as he lifted him a few scant inches from the ground. The asshole weighed a fuckton.

When John finally knew that the man was a secure weight on his back, he lopped the guy’s bulging arms around his own neck and took a second to try and steady his heart. It didn’t work. Instead, John could feel the panic scratching at the back of his neck, threatening to debilitate him at the worst possible time.

_Fuck that_ , John thought as he grunted and pushed off from the ground, completely uncaring of the unhinged shriek of pain that ripped through him. Having over a combined 400 pounds of muscle concentrated on one knee was not something that the physical therapist would have assigned.

Rising to his feet with as limited amount of help from his busted leg as possible, John began to limp towards where he thought the entrance used to be.

Stumbling under the weight of the soldier, John tried to peer through the smoke and was only faced with a hot sweep of heat as the fire continued to roar. Understanding that standing around would do him no favors, John grit his teeth and sprinted forward. Years later he would still have no idea how he managed to make it to the edge of the fire, but the gods seemed to be on his side as the somehow still intact door came into view.

Heart swelling along with the pain in his leg, John forced himself to cover the last few feet until he managed to push through the inflamed door.

Finding himself outside in the semi-fresh air, John knew enough to get a bit farther from the burning building, but after about five feet, his legs began to buckle under him, and John found himself face first in the gritty sand. He could feel the heavy weight of the soldier on his back and the pressure that his weight added to his lungs, but John couldn’t muster up the strength to actually get the behemoth off of him.’

They laid there as John tried not to close his eyes and lose consciousness, and avter a while he felt the man twitch above him before groaning and rolling off. The air that rushed into his lngs almost caused him to throw up in his own mouth. It was too much.

“What happened?” the man asked from John’s side. John couldn’t actually see him, and was honestly too preoccupied with cataloging the pains in his body.

“John?” the man said, “Sire?” when John couldn’t bring his lungs to work. But, besides his aching lungs, John knew that tone. He had heard it millions of times before as his people had asked him for an audience where they either pleaded for his help or advice, and as usual, John couldn’t turn away from that sadness.

“I’m fine,” he murmured, “just a little crisp.”

The soldier didn’t reply and John realized that he was sick and tired of adding the word “the” to the guy’s descriptor.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Leob,” he answered quietly.

John didn’t answer, ashamed at the knowledge that he couldn’t place Leob’s face or name.

“Are you okay to move?” Leob asked as John heard him push himself up onto his forearms. Settling back into examining his body, John tried to figure out whether he would be able to move and the conclusion didn’t seem all that likely.

“I don’t think so,” he murmured. John could hear Leob attempting to scramble to his feet, and for a split second he considered the possibility of Leob leaving him in the desert to die of dehydration and third degree burns.

“Let’s get you up then,” Leob said, his hard arms coming to wrap around John’s upper body and pulling John flush against his own chest. John tried to hold back a grumble of discomfort and slight humiliation at being manhandled in such a way, but as Leob steadied them and counted to three before pulling their combined weight to a standing position, John couldn’t help but be proud of his ex-soldier. No matter how weird that sounded.

Shuffling their way back towards the car, John only managed to look back once he had been gingerly placed into the passenger seat. From what he could see, the building was a crumbling pit of ash and smoke with almost no structural integrity left.

“Shouldn’t we have died in there?” he murmured to himself,  eyes wide as he realized the intensity of the heat.

“Yeah,” Leob sighed as he sank into his seat, “but I think the secondary force field activated around the cube so the majority of the explosion was contained. We only got the tail end.”

John  tried to control the shock that rolled through him, because that place had been hotter than hell, and there was no way that Leob knew what he was talking about.

“John,” Leob said as he swung the car away from the building, “I used to be the fire specialist, that’s mainly why I’m here. I know where to shoot to get the  fire to ignite and not overpower the force field, but you got in the way.” John could hear the sharpness of his tone, but it wasn’t like the guy had much of a leg to stand on. “We would have been safe and everything would have gone to plan-” Leob shut his mouth as the rest of the plan sprang to both of their minds. John grit his teeth and sent a glare towards Leob, who was gracious enough to flinch, as he imagined himself laying on the ground with half of his head blow off. Not even the bots would have been able to put him back together then.

“Yeah,” John grunted as he settle back into his seat, “speaking of that, what are you gonna do to me?”

The car went painfully silent as Leob thought over what action he wanted to take, and it wasn’t until John heard his name being called that he even realized that he had dozed off a bit. It was a bit  unsettling, sleeping next to the enemy.

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go,” he finally answered, “but I can’t get you to the castle. The closest we can get is to the same car dealership that we kidnapped you and Dorian from.”

The reminder of Dorian brought a surge of rage and despair that clouded John’s mind and made him want to attack Leob all over again. “You might want to calm down, prince,” Leob chuckled as he glanced over and saw John’s clenched fists, “he’s still alive, just not all in one piece.”

John was tempted to believe the man whose life he had just saved and who now owed him a debt, but the hope that Dorian was actually still alive was a bit too much to believe in, despite his earlier thoughts.

“Oh,” Leob said as he leaned over towards John’s leg.

John, in turn, grabbed hold to the man’s wrist and twisted it enough to cause a slight sprain.

“Fuck!” Leob glared as he slammed the car to a stop. “What the hell is wrong with you?! I’m trying to turn off the bomb in your leg before we fry to bits again, you asshole!”

_Oh_ , John thought. Donning his most forgiving look, John waved his arm towards his leg and raised an eyebrow. Sometimes he loved playing the impervious royal.

Leob simply glared some more and muttered under his breath, which seemed to be a thing for him, before reaching over with his opposite hand and bringing up the keypad on the leg. After entering the code, John felt a pressure that he hadn’t even known was there release from around his muscles and allowed for him to take an almost pain free breath. It was liberating.

Then, the first thing that came out of his mouth was: “Dorian. Take me to Dorian.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Christmas present for my dears, Victoria and Melissa, so I'm trying to work on it as quickly as possible. That being said, I haven't had time to get a beta so any and all mistakes are mine and mine alone.


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